Through The Looking Glass
by tamilnadu09
Summary: "It'll be just like The Parent Trap," Katherine Pierce confidently told a skeptical Elena Gilbert. "Except we'll do it better." And the plan might have worked too, if it wasn't for the infamous Damon Salvatore...AU/AH.
1. Walk A Mile in My Stilletos

**A/N: **I'm backkkk! I've had the idea for this fic ever since this past summer, and I finally got the chance to sit down and start writing it today. It's a lot different from any of my other fics, but I'm really excited for how the storyline is going to play out. Enjoy!

* * *

To any bystander passing by, the two brunettes standing opposite each other in the airport looked like complete strangers. Upon a closer look, one might be able to discern from their body language and stiff postures that perhaps the two women did not like each other very much.

Katherine Pierce irritably ran her fingers through her straight hair, missing the way her tight locks would layer around her shoulders. She shot a disdainful glance at Elena Gilbert, who was awkwardly fiddling with the designer sunglasses that framed her face. "Could you make it a little less obvious, maybe?"

Elena's hands immediately dropped guiltily to her sides. "Sorry. It's just that, I'm not used to…" She gestured unnecessarily to the Louis Vuitton luggage set next to her, "To stuff like this."

"Well get used to it," Katherine snapped, "Because if there's any chance of you pulling off being ME, then you'll have to start acting like you've been surrounded by fancy things your whole life. Got it?"

Elena pursed her lips, seeming to restrain from rolling her eyes with great difficulty. "Maybe you should be a little less worried about me and more concerned with how you're going to pull off _slumming it_ in the sticks."

Katherine huffed, placing one hand on her hip. "No need to take that snippy tone with me, Elena. I wasn't trying to insult you." She hesitated and then wrinkled her nose, "Is Mystic Falls really that bad?"

"No," Elena sighed resignedly, abandoning the defensive tone in her voice—for now. "But you grew up on the Upper East Side, and you've never attended public school, and…" She chewed on her lip, "Mystic Falls is going to be like stepping into a whole other world, that's all."

"Through the looking glass," Katherine quoted distractedly, kneeling down to rummage through her (non-brand name) luggage for something.

"You've read that book?" Elena asked, surprised. "I didn't think you—"

"Read?" Katherine straightened, holding a thick white binder in her hands. "So am I the one who should be offended now?"

Elena had the grace to flush, "Sorry, you just didn't seem like...never mind."

"Two months is hardly enough time to get to know someone, Elena," Katherine held the binder out to her companion, "Though this should help in that department."

Elena took the binder with a frown, and began flipping through it. Each page had a person's face on it, along with basic factual information (age, relationship to Katherine, job description, birthday, etc). "Um, what is this?"

"_That _is some reading for the plane," Katherine announced, looking quite proud of herself. "It's also how you're going to survive pretending to be me."

"But…" Elena paused on the page of a young woman named Anna, and quickly skimmed it. "Wait, you have your own _maid_?"

"Relax," Katherine placed a hand on Elena's arm, her voice taking on a persuasive edge. "Most of the people in that binder just work for my mom—my hairdresser, my trainer, my makeup artist—they're not people who'll be able to tell the difference between you and I. Don't worry."

Elena closed the binder and irately stuffed it into her purse, "Maybe not, but I'm pretty sure your maid will be able to tell the difference!" She swatted her new oversized curls out of her face, annoyed. "The only reason we said this was going to work is because your mom and my dad are both workaholics who never spend any time with us, and so they would never be able to tell—"

"They _won't,"_ Katherine interrupted, looking off to the side as a boarding announcement came over the speaker. "That's my flight," she turned back to Elena, her eyes becoming alight with excitement. "It's really happening," she grinned, reaching over and giving her newfound identical twin a hug. "We're really going to do this."

Try as she might, Elena could only muster up a halfhearted smile. "Be careful," she called after Katherine, "Call me if you—"

"Yeah, yeah," Katherine waved over her shoulder, "I'll text you when I land! Don't forget what we talked about!"

Nudging her sunglasses over her nose again, Elena shifted the Coach purse over her arm and took a deep breath as she gathered up her luggage and began walking off in the opposite direction towards her own flight.

* * *

_[K]_

Four hours later, Katherine landed in Richmond, Virginia. Hiding her nervousness, she exited the plane and made her way down to baggage claim. She sent a quick text to Elena to let her know that she had landed, and then scrolled through her newly programmed contacts up to the name that sent a fresh wave of nausea through her system. "_Come on Kat, suck it up," _she ordered herself under her breath. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening, she hurriedly pressed the TALK button before she lost her nerve.

A couple rings later, a tired sounding male voice answered, "Hello?"

Katherine's breath caught in her throat, and she coughed to clear it. "D-dad, hi." A pause. "It's me," she added unnecessarily. "I just landed."

"Elena," John Gilbert's voice became lighter, though he still sounded strained. "Did you have a good flight?"

"Yes, no problem," Katherine replied, suddenly feeling lightheaded with anticipation. "Are you...picking me up from the airport?"

"It's been really busy down at the station today," John sounded evasive, "I sent your friend's mom down to pick you up. Just give her a call to let her know you're there, alright?"

Katherine's throat felt dry. _Damn, she had been counting on John getting her from the airport. _"Sure," she swallowed, "Which friend?" John's voice became muffled as he spoke to someone on the other end of the phone, and Katherine figured he had covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "Hello? Dad?"

_Click._

"Um, okay...bye," Katherine muttered, her heart sinking. At that moment she became aware that the area around her had largely cleared out, and only a few pieces of luggage were now making the rounds on the conveyer belt. She caught sight of her modest black suitcase immediately (there was a bright green ribbon tied around the handle—Elena's idea of identification) and she quickly hurried forward to pull it off. It was so heavy, however, that she ended up staggering forward with it until a pair of hands grabbed the other end of the suitcase and helped her lift it to the ground.

"Thanks," Katherine gasped out breathlessly, sweeping her hair out her face to see a kind-faced woman beaming at her. It took Katherine a second, but she was able to recognize her from one of the pictures that Elena had shown her over the summer. "Mrs. Forbes!" Katherine smiled brightly, accepting the woman's warm hug. "How are you?"

Up close, Katherine could see the black circles lining the older woman's face, but Liz Forbes made no indication that she was exhausted. "Happy to see you, for one," she laughed, sounding sincere. "Caroline has been complaining all summer without you and Bonnie to keep her company."

_Caroline Forbes. Best Friend. Cheerleader. Boy-crazy. _

"I've missed Caroline, too," Katherine responded correctly, rolling her luggage down the large expanse and out of the airport. "I thought she went to cheerleading camp?"

"She did," Mrs. Forbes answered, ushering her into the parking garage. "But that was only for a couple weeks. She's been working down at The Grill since she got back last month. Do you think you're going to be getting a job once school starts?"

Katherine frowned. _Work? She'd never had to work a day in her life, and she certainly wasn't going to start now. _"No," she replied, realizing that the other woman was waiting for her response. "I mean, it's senior year so it's going to be pretty busy. I'm taking four AP classes this semester."

"Yes, your father told me," she leaned towards Katherine conspiratorially and winked, "He might not always show it, but he's really proud of you, Elena. He's been talking about you non-stop all summer. I think he really missed having you around the house. It's the first time you've been gone for such a long period of time, right?"

"Yeah..." Katherine trailed off, confused. The way Elena had spoken about John, it had seemed like he was never at home anyway. Why would he possibly miss her being around? "Well, it was only a couple of months," she added, "Taking those summer classes at Harvard was a really good experience."

"Did you meet any new friends?" Mrs. Forbes asked, glancing at Katherine as they pulled out of the garage and onto the busy freeway leading out of the airport, "Any cute guys?"

Katherine smiled in spite of herself, "Yeah, I met a couple of _unexpected _people. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad I went."

"If there's anyone that deserves to have a little fun, it's definitely you." Mrs. Forbes nodded towards the radio, "Go on, plug your iPod in. I know what those long plane rides are like. You must be dying to catch some shut-eye."

"I'm pretty tired," Katherine admitted, stifling a yawn. "And I can't wait to shower." She turned her head to study the passing scenery thoughtfully, "I can't believe school starts tomorrow."

"You must be excited to see your friends again."

Katherine took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "Yes," she said confidently, "I can't wait to see them."

* * *

_[E]_

If Katherine had been nervous, it was nothing compared to how Elena felt when she landed at JFK. _This is never going to work, _she silently berated herself. Why had she let Katherine talk her into going through with this boneheaded scheme? There was no way she was going to be able to cut it in Manhattan, of all places! Everyone would know she was a fraud the second they set eyes on her.

She dragged her feet into baggage claim, and was surprised to see her luggage already neatly assembled side by side next to...Elena quickly wracked her brain for the faces from the binder that she had spent her plane ride memorizing. "Oh Trevor," she said formally, "Good to see you."

"Ms. Pierce," he bowed his head slightly, "Did you have a good flight?"

"Yes, thank you." Elena followed him out to the limo, feeling supremely uncomfortable as he held the door open for her. She slid into the spacious compartment, her hands touching the leather almost reverently. It was empty inside, but Katherine had already warned her that Isobel rarely left her office save for emergencies. "How is mother?" Elena asked once Trevor had taken his seat behind the wheel, "Her last e-mail said she was working on a big case."

"She is," Trevor confirmed as the limo pulled smoothly onto the road. "It has been getting a lot of publicity in the papers." Their eyes met in the rearview mirror, and he gave her a friendly smile, "Did you have a good time in Boston?"

"Yes," Elena turned her head to look out the window, the lights making her head spin. "But I missed home."

Trevor muttered something in response, but Elena didn't catch what he said. Instead, she let the lull of the engine draw her into a much-needed sleep. Far too soon, she felt the limo coming to a stop and she confusedly opened her eyes to see that they were parked outside what could only be described as a mansion.

With Katherine's instructions ringing in her ears, Elena left the luggage to be brought up by the staff. She carefully made her way up the stairs and entered the expansive hall, her boots digging into the luscious carpeting. "Katherine, darling," an unfamiliar voice greeted her, and Elena looked up to see her mother walking towards her.

"Mom," Elena whispered in awe, but luckily Isobel was too busy studying her with a scrutinous eye to notice.

"You've gotten thinner," Isobel frowned, touching Elena's shoulders gently. "Were they not feeding you over there?"

"The food was fine...mother," Elena had to dig her fingernails into the palms of her hands to will herself not to lose her nerve, "I've missed you."

"Yes, the house was simply not the same without you." Isobel placed a hand on Elena's back and led her towards another spiraling staircase. "Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for dinner? I've told the cook to make all your favorite things to celebrate your coming home."

"Okay," Elena agreed with a smile, and slowly made her way up the stairs. The map that Katherine had drawn her was etched into her mind's eye, and Elena's footsteps carried her into Katherine's room as if she'd been there a million times before. "Wow," she murmured, taking in the luxurious purples and pinks that draped the room. It looked like royalty. It looked like Katherine.

"You're back!" someone squealed, and Elena turned around to see Anna standing at the doorway, carrying a school uniform. She carefully placed it on the bed before holding her arms out to Elena, "I've missed you, Kat."

_Well, clearly Katherine and Anna were closer than her dear sister had let on._

"Anna," Elena returned the hug, "It's good to see you, too. How have you been?"

"Better now that you're here," Anna held both of Elena's hands, "Isobel has been an absolute nightmare since you've been gone."

"Really?" Elena's brow furrowed, "Why? I was only gone for a couple of months."

Anna rolled her eyes, "I know she plays the cool and collected lawyer well, but she obviously missed you this past summer. But I think most of her bad mood was due to..." she trailed off, "Well, I'm sure she'll tell you over dinner."

Elena's nervousness, which had slowly ebbed away, now returned in full force. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm sure you want a hot shower after that long plane ride," Anna neatly sidestepped the question, "Shall I tell them you'll be ready for dinner in a half hour? And I'll tell the staff to bring your luggage up as well." She paused at the door and smiled again, "It really is good to have you back, Kat."

Exactly 30 minutes later, Elena descended the stairs and made her way to the dining room where Isobel was already seated. She smiled briefly at the person who pulled her chair out for her, and sat down across from her mother. With a shaking hand, she reached out for her glass of water and hurriedly took a sip to soothe her dry mouth. "The food looks delicious."

"I'll send the cook your compliments," Isobel smiled back at her, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Katherine, before we begin eating, there's something I need to discuss with you."

_Oh god, she knows. _

"Yes?" Elena squeaked, "Is something wrong?"

Isobel sighed, "I didn't tell you about this in our e-mails because I didn't want to concern you, but since school starts tomorrow, I don't think I can push this off any longer."

Curiosity getting the better of her, Elena slowly put down her glass. "Mother, what is it?"

"I'm sure you've been wondering what the big case my law firm has been working on lately is, and you'll find out soon enough because the local papers have been splashing it across their front pages for the past couple of weeks." Isobel bit her lip, "Do you remember when I told you the story of how your father and I split up?"

Elena's mouth nearly dropped open, and all she could manage to stammer out was, "Um, m-my father?"

"I know we haven't talked about him in years," Isobel went on hastily, "And I hate to bring him up, but..." She heaved another sigh, "The case that your father and I were both working on 18 years ago—about Giuseppe Salvatore embezzling money from his own company?"

The name rang a bell in Elena's memory. She vaguely remembered her father speaking about the case to her one time, though he had spoken of Giuseppe in less than favorable terms. "Yes," she nodded, "I remember. What about him?"

"Well, he's back to his old tricks again," Isobel answered slowly, "He's back in the city, Katherine. Needless to say, there is a lot of bad blood between the two of us. I want you to be careful, especially at school."

Elena only grew even more confused. "At school? What do you mean?"

Isobel spoke with the air of someone about to deliver some potentially destructive news. "When I say he moved back to Manhattan, I meant to say his _family _is back in the city." She looked deathly serious, "His son has enrolled at your school for senior year. You remember him, don't you? Damon Salvatore?"

* * *

*****_each chapter will follow a similar format: half in Katherine's POV and half in Elena's POV. A lot of familiar characters will be popping up in this fic ;) hope you liked the first chapter! xoxo_


	2. The Path Untaken

**A/N: **thank you for all your sweet reviews! and a special thanks to LokYa for pointing out that the location at the end of the last chapter needed to be fixed :)

* * *

_[K]_

"Thank you for the ride, Mrs. Forbes," Katherine called from her doorstep as she waved goodbye. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem, sweetie," Liz stuck her head out the car window, looking apologetic. "I wish I had time to come in and help you get settled but things are kind of crazy down at the station—well, your father probably told you about that, right?"

"He said it was pretty busy today," Katherine tried to smile, "Don't worry about it. I'll just see him later tonight…do you know what time he'll be home?"

Mrs. Forbes gave a short laugh, "He'll probably try and get home a little earlier today since you're back. Maybe around 10PM?"

Katherine nodded, completely unsurprised. Elena had gone on for great length about the late hours John kept to at work. Personally, Katherine suspected a secret affair but Elena had thought that particular idea to be ludicrous_. 'Trust me,'_ Elena had chortled, '_He's totally not that type of guy. You'll see what I mean when you meet him.'_

After Liz drove away, Katherine took a step back to study her new home. While obviously much smaller than what she was used to, the house seemed to be a modest size and looked fairly respectable from the outside. That is, except for the overgrown weeds filling the small garden area and the wilted plants in the pots alongside the porch. Clearly no one tended to the upkeep of the house—and between John's hectic work schedule and Elena's busy school life, Katherine could see why.

She sucked in a deep breath as the lock clicked open and she apprehensively stepped inside, letting her eyes adjust to the change in light. The first thing she saw was the ill-fitting rug that lined the hallway, and she instinctively wrinkled her nose. She dropped her luggage at the bottom of the staircase and wandered into the living room, where she found an assortment of mismatched furniture. While not exactly messy, everything about the overall appearance screamed _eyesore _to her tastes.

Katherine sighed to herself and continued into the dining room (at least, she assumed that's what it was supposed to be). The large table in the middle had placemats on it, but the entire surface was strewn with books and papers. It would appear that John not only stayed late at the station, but also brought a lot of his work home with him.

Growing more and more disgusted, Katherine poked her head into the kitchen. It was mostly clean here, probably because John couldn't cook to save his life. Sure enough, when she opened the refrigerator, she saw several boxes of take-out food lining the shelves.

_Maybe living here was going to be harder than she thought_.

As if their twin telepathy was suddenly working, Katherine's phone rang at that moment. "Hey, Elena," she chirped, attempting to sound more cheerful than she actually was. "I just got home—well to your home, I mean. I just finished exploring the first floor and I'm about to head upstairs now. How are—"

"Katherine," Elena interrupted, her voice urgent. "Look, I don't have a lot of time before Anna or Isobel shows up in my room, so I need you to explain this to me as quickly as possible, okay?"

Katherine frowned in puzzlement as she tucked her phone in snugly between her shoulder and ear so that she could start hauling her luggage up the staircase. "What are you talking about? Did something happen? Is my mom okay?" Elena was silent for so long that Katherine was starting to wonder if she had accidentally hung up the phone. "Elena?"

"Who's Damon Salvatore?"

Katherine's eyes widened with shock, and she let the suitcase slip from her grip causing it to land rather painfully on her toes. "Shit! Okay, hold on one second," she said hastily, clambering up the final few steps and kicking the suitcase into the room at the end of the hallway. "Now let me get this straight, did you say _Damon_?"

"Yes," Elena said impatiently, "Isobel asked me if I remembered him, and I was forced to stutter out some vague answer because obviously I have no idea who he is. She mentioned that case our parents worked on together 18 years ago before they split up. Who is he, Kat? He wasn't in that binder you gave me of the people I should know from your life."

Katherine leaned her head against the wall, feeling a headache coming on. "That's because he's _not _in my life—and he hasn't been for years. Why would my mom bring him up?"

"Because him and his father are back in town," Elena whispered back, "And Damon is going to be at school tomorrow."

"_School? _He still hasn't graduated? Damn it," Katherine rubbed her forehead, trying to think. "Okay, listen to me, Elena. You need to stay away from him, understand? He is trouble with a capital T, and we don't have time for that right now. Just avoid him at all costs and we should be alright. Hopefully."

"How ironic, Isobel gave me the exact same advice," Elena replied dryly, "Looks like the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree after all."

Katherine ignored her. "What else did mom say? Why are the Salvatores back in the city? Is Stefan with them?"

"Who?"

"Damon's brother."

"No, Isobel didn't mention him. She said they're back because of some huge case she's working on. Something about Giuseppe's company?"

At that moment, the front door downstairs closed with a bang. "Elena?" John called out, "Are you here?"

Katherine swore again, "I have to go—just remember what I said, alright?" She didn't wait to hear Elena's response and quickly hung up the phone. "I'm up here," she called out in response to John's question. "I'll be down in a second."

She hurried down the hallway, but took a minute to compose herself at the top of the stairs. After all these years, she was finally going to meet her father. Her mouth felt inexplicably dry, and she could hear her heart thudding loudly. She then walked carefully down the stairs, and turned into the living room.

And there he was.

"Dad," Katherine swallowed down her fear and walked forward, "Hi."

John Gilbert stood up from the sofa and briefly returned her smile, "Aren't you proud of me? I'm home a whole two hours early just for you. I thought we could have dinner together for once, how does that sound?"

"Sounds great," Katherine replied, genuine excitement lighting up her features. "Should I...order something?"

He nodded towards the dining room, "I actually picked up some food on the way home from work. I thought we could discuss a couple things before you go back to school tomorrow."

Her smile faded as she followed him in and took a seat at one end of the table. "Um, about what?"

John sat down across from her, looking as though he was trying to decide how to best word some bad news. "You know how I told you it's been really busy down at the station?" he finally asked, "Well, it's because of...a new case that has recently been making headlines around here." Then he paused and amended, "Well, it's not so much a new case as much as it's an old one..."

Katherine began to get an inkling of where this conversation going, but she hoped that she was wrong. "What do you mean? Is everything alright?"

"I know we talked about this a long time ago, so you might not remember but...does the name Giuseppe Salvatore ring a bell?"

_Damn it._

"The case you and my—I mean, the case you and Isobel worked on all those years ago, right?"

"Right," John looked slightly relieved, "Well, Giuseppe didn't serve any jail time because he supposedly proved that he wasn't embezzling money 18 years ago. But now he's been accused of the exact same thing again, and the prosecutor working on his case has asked me to start looking into those old case files again to see if we can find him guilty on both counts."

Katherine frowned. _But then why had Giuseppe and Damon moved back to Manhattan? Shouldn't they be in Mystic Falls instead? _

He didn't seem to notice her confusion. "His company is based in New York, so he and his older son are there now. From what I understand, his family lived in the city up until two years ago when they abruptly up and relocated to California. No one knows why."

She hesitated, "How old is his son?"

"Damon? Around 20, I believe. He's been kicked out of various boarding schools, seems like a bit of a troublemaker to tell you the truth. Apparently he's enrolling in some private school on the Upper East Side to finally finish up his senior year." John put down his fork, and Katherine suddenly realized that he hadn't actually touched any of his food. "But none of that concerns you. It's his other son that poses a potential problem for us."

"Other son?"

"Stefan Salvatore," John answered heavily, "He's in Mystic Falls."

* * *

_[E]_

Elena didn't know what time she had fallen asleep, but it must have been fairly early since she apparently hadn't had the presence of mind to change into her pajamas. She groaned as she rolled out of bed, her joints feeling stiff from sleeping in her jeans. Her hand automatically reached for her cell phone, where she saw two missed calls from Katherine as well as a text message that merely proclaimed: **CALL ME. **

Before Elena could text back a reply, there was a knock on her door and she looked up in surprise to see Anna standing there with a bright smile. "Hey Kat, ready for school?"

"I will be," Elena tried to smile back and gestured vaguely to her clothes, "As soon as I shower and change out of these."

"I'll make up your bed and lay out your school uniform," Anna answered promptly, "Breakfast should be ready in around 45 minutes. Isobel told the cook to make all your favorites." She grinned, "Told you she really missed having you around."

When Elena emerged from her shower twenty minutes later, she felt invigorated and energized. _Hmm maybe getting used to this life wouldn't be so hard after all. _As nervous as she was about playing the role of Katherine at school today, she couldn't deny the slight adrenaline rush she was getting from all this.

She then pulled on her school uniform and critically studied her reflection in the full length mirror, trying to decide if she was wearing it correctly. She felt a little like she was wearing a Halloween costume—it just didn't _feel _like her. She absentmindedly touched a hand to her curls, and was just about to reapply her makeup when Anna showed up at the doorway again, looking harassed. "Kat, what are you still doing up here? Trevor is going to be here soon to drive you to school. Isobel is stressed out enough as it is, hurry up!"

"Sorry, sorry," Elena hastily grabbed her bag and followed Anna down the stairs without further ado. She had just taken a few bites of her waffles when Isobel entered the dining room, wearing an expensive designer suit. Elena paused, the fork halfway to her mouth. It suddenly struck her how utterly different Isobel and John's lives had turned out after they had gone their separate paths. Looking at Isobel now, Elena couldn't even imagine that the woman with such refined tastes and attitude had once been in love with a man like John Gilbert.

"Katherine, are you feeling alright?" Isobel was looking at her worriedly, and Elena realized she had probably been zoning out for a full minute. "Trevor is waiting outside—you really ought to get to school now if you want to beat the traffic."

"Okay, I'm leaving," Elena hopped out of her seat, and the kitchen staff immediately converged upon the dining table to clear it. She gaped for a second, unused to not having to do any work herself. "I'll see you tonight?"

Isobel nodded, "Have a good first day back, sweetheart. And remember what we discussed last night."

It wasn't until Elena climbed into the back seat of the limo that she remembered to text Katherine back about what the missed calls from the previous night were about. There was no response by the time she got to school, however, and Elena was left to wonder if something important had happened back home.

She got out of the limo and stared up at the large gated entrance to her new school. "Wow," she murmured under her breath in awe. Her nervousness returned in full force as she tried to imitate Katherine's confident swagger. She had to look like she _belonged. _That was key.

As she stepped into the school building, she heard someone call out Katherine's name and she turned around to see a blonde girl sashaying towards her. Elena immediately recognized the girl from one of the pictures in the white binder: Rebekah.

Katherine had described her as a bit of a "frenemy" and Elena could immediately understand why. There was something about Rebekah that made Elena instinctively dislike her. "Boston seems to have treated you well," Rebekah held her arms out for a hug, speaking with a light British accent. "How was it?"

"It was fun," Elena shrugged, "How was your summer?"

"Visited the family in London," Rebekah replied dismissively, "You know what that's like."

_Sure..._

"Great," Elena nodded, uncomfortably shifting her purse on her shoulder. "So what classes do you have today?"

Rebekah didn't appear to be listening, however, and was staring at something past her shoulder. "The rumors are true then," she said with faint disdain, "He's really back." Elena began to turn around, but Rebekah grabbed her wrist to stop her. "No, don't look back. He'll know we're talking about him." She rolled her eyes, "That's the last thing he needs—another ego booster." She peered at Elena curiously, "Is it true what they're saying about you and Damon?"

Elena bit her lip, wishing Katherine had maybe given her a little more information about her supposed past with the Salvatores. "Er, what are _they_ saying?"

Rebekah opened her mouth to answer, but abruptly closed it again. "Don't look now, but he's headed our way."

Elena's eyes widened in panic. "Maybe we should get to class," she suggested quickly, "I don't want to be late." Rebekah took a single step back, but didn't respond. Instead, she looked oddly excited about something. The hallway, which had previously been filled with chattering students, had now quietened down into eager whispers.

With a slow feeling of dread, Elena waited with bated breath. "Well, well," a cool voice drawled from behind her, and she became startlingly aware of his body heat against her back, his breath brushing against her neck.

She shivered.

A moment later, she heard leisurely footsteps tread around her and then he was suddenly in front of her. Elena raised her head, determined to not let him intimidate her. Her breath caught in her throat and she locked gazes with a pair of impossibly clear cerulean eyes. A lazy smirk pulled at his lips as he blatantly looked her over. "Katherine Pierce," he finally said, his eyes seeming to darken. "It's really you."

_Be Katherine. _

Elena squared her shoulders, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "Damon Salvatore. How long has it been?"

He treated her to another slow smile, and she felt her pulse quicken. Whether from excitement or fear or a mixture of both, she didn't know. "Too long," Damon nearly purred, reaching for her hand and raising it to his lips.

Elena idly wondered if everyone in the immediate vicinity could hear her heart pounding, or if it was just her.

He brushed a light kiss across the back of her hand, keeping his gaze intensely on hers as he did so. Elena could feel the heat rise in her face. _Katherine would never let this happen, _she internally scolded herself. _Don't let him dominate the situation. Take charge. _

With sudden resolve, she casually pulled her hand back and flashed him a cold smile. "Not long enough," she corrected him, pleased with the surprise that flickered in his eyes as she turned on her heel and walked away.


	3. The Salvatore Effect

**A/N: **firstly, thank you all for the reviews! and second: I have started watching TVD again which I know most of my long-time readers will be happy to hear about ;) so sometime down the road (around the next hiatus I'm guessing) I will probably be writing canon-TVD fics again. In the meantime, enjoy!

* * *

_[K]_

Katherine stared doubtfully into Elena's closet, wondering what on earth she was supposed to wear. It was the first day of school, so that meant she was supposed to wear something new or special…_right?_

She frowned.

She had spent her whole life going to private schools that touted a mandatory uniform policy, so she had never faced this particular predicament before. Reading books and watching teen movies told her that the first day of school outfit was supposed to make a statement—show people that she had spent the summer reinventing herself, becoming more mature; set a tone for the new school year.

_Well_, Katherine considered, _no matter what she wore, she was still a whole different person_—_that had to count for something, right?_

"Elena!" John's voice called from downstairs, sounding irritated. "What are you doing up there? You're going to be late...I made you breakfast, hurry up!"

Katherine tilted her head, puzzled. The John Gilbert that Elena had described to her usually left for work far before Elena even woke up for school. What on earth was he still doing here? And he had _cooked? _What was going on?

"I'll be down in a few minutes," Katherine called back, raising her voice. He didn't respond, however, so she got the feeling that he had probably moved into the kitchen and wasn't listening to her anyway.

She ran her hands through her straight hair indecisively (straightening it everyday was already becoming a pain) and finally turned to look through Elena's dresser in the vague hopes that her twin might've gone clothes shopping for school before heading to Boston for the summer.

As luck would have it, Katherine found that the bottom drawer was stuffed with shopping bags full of clothes with tags still on them. She smiled—apparently her instincts were dead on. She fished out dark skinny jeans from one of the bags and found a pretty blue tunic in another bag that looked exactly like Elena's style. The material of both were of cheaper quality than Katherine was used to, but she didn't complain.

After all, if they were going to pull this off then certain sacrifices had to made.

She bounded down the stairs fifteen minutes later to find John looking surly. "What took you so long?"

"I was…" Katherine faltered, unsure of how to respond. "Getting ready?"

"Well get up earlier in the morning if you're going to take so long getting dressed everyday," he snapped, "Go eat something. You shouldn't go to school on an empty stomach. How many AP classes do you have today?"

Katherine pursed her lips, beginning to understand why Elena said she never spent much time with their father. He really didn't seem like pleasant company.

"Three," she answered stiffly as she stomped childishly into the dining room to find that John's idea of "making breakfast" actually entailed of him putting a box of cereal next to a bowl and spoon.

He hadn't even poured any orange juice.

Katherine felt her annoyance mount as she gingerly took a sip of the coffee sitting out and immediately made a face at the bitter taste. She glanced up at him to make sure he wasn't paying attention before she discreetly poured it down the sink. Then she hastily rummaged through the cabinets before finding a box of granola bars. "Why are you still here?" she asked John when she emerged from the kitchen, not caring if her tone sounded rude or not. "I thought you usually went to work by this time."

He looked up sharply, and for a second she thought he was going to chastise her. But then he merely replied, "I thought I would drive you to school today so you wouldn't have to walk." Her mouth opened in bewilderment, but he didn't wait to hear her next question. "Are you ready?" he asked impatiently, glancing at the cereal bar she was holding in her hand. "Is that all you're eating? Fine, it doesn't matter. Just get into the car. I'll be out in a second."

Katherine clenched her jaw, making a mental note to talk to Elena (if she ever decided to return her phone calls!) to ask about John's weirdly bipolar behavior. The car ride to school was mostly silent, save for John making small talk about what classes were on her schedule for the day. When they finally arrived, she was slightly unnerved to see him peering suspiciously out of the car window as though he was looking for someone.

"Er, dad?"

John glanced at her but didn't say anything for a moment as he continued to scour the students milling around the entrance. There was no doubt about it, he was definitely on the lookout for someone. He eventually muttered something under his breath and turned back to look at her. "Have a good first day," he said to her tersely, "And if you see Stefan Salvatore...don't speak to him, alright?"

_Ah, that explained a lot._

Katherine just barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. She sent him a halfhearted wave before heading towards the large brick building. She gave it a cursory glance—while obviously not gated off like her own school was, it didn't seem too bad for a public school. And Mystic Falls seemed like a fairly nice neighborhood, one of those little suburban towns where nothing interesting ever happened. Except...

A sudden hush fell over the student body as she neared the doors, but then the chattering abruptly resumed, this time sounding more excited. Katherine's brow furrowed and she looked around to see what the source of all the commotion was for. Two seconds later, she saw _him._

Stefan Salvatore had just pulled into the parking lot.

Katherine supposed that she should be grateful that she and Stefan had never actually met in New York. Although Damon had attended the same school as her, Stefan had gone to a different one. It was wildly known that the two brothers never exactly saw eye to eye, and so putting them in the same high school would have amounted to nothing short of a disaster.

In any case, she could at least rest assured that he wouldn't recognize her (or Elena, for that matter).

He had gotten out of his car by this point and was walking towards the school, his hands in his pockets and his head down. The hushed whispers became louder as he approached, which Katherine thought as distinctly rude. He briefly glanced up as he passed her, but dropped his gaze back to the ground when he saw everyone was staring at him.

He quickened his pace, and Katherine felt a flash of sympathy for him. He hadn't asked for any of this. Why he was in Mystic Falls anyway? Who was he staying with? The Salvatores' mother had died before she had even met Damon, so did that mean he was here all alone?

Katherine bit her lip. According to John, she shouldn't even be concerning herself with Stefan Salvatore. Determined to put him out of her mind, she hurried up the steps so that she could find her locker before any of the other students came in—after all, they would probably think it was odd if 'Elena' couldn't find her own locker in her fourth year at this school.

She consulted the piece of paper Elena had given her with a sketch of the school layout and the general location of her locker. However, as she looked back and forth down the hallway, she only grew more confused. Frowning down at the scrap of paper, Katherine let her feet carry her in what she hoped was the general direction she was supposed to be going.

Not looking where she was going, she suddenly bumped into something rather warm and solid. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Katherine gasped out, looking up and locking gazes with the person who had grabbed her shoulders to steady her. She immediately felt something twist deep within her, and she swallowed. "Oh, she said again, adding a lame, "Hello."

"Hi," Stefan gave her a small smile, "Are you new, too?"

"What? No..." Katherine trailed off, hurriedly shoving the paper into her purse before he got a good look at it. "I just wasn't...um, paying attention to where I was going. Again, sorry." She blinked and hastily broke eye contact with him. "Well, I won't keep you—I need to get to my locker and stuff—"

"Oh wait," he pulled out his class schedule from a binder he was holding and pointed to the room number for his first class. "Do you mind telling me how to get here? It's just, this place is kind of confusing." He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, looking apologetic. "But if you're busy, I understand—"

"AP History?" Katherine's heart sank even further as her gaze quickly flew over his schedule, subconsciously memorizing it and comparing it to her own. "What do you know, that's actually my first class too."

"Really?" Stefan's eyes brightened momentarily, "Cool." He treated her to a broader smile this time, "My name is Stefan, by the way. You?"

"Ka—" She caught herself at the last second, "Elena."

His brow furrowed slightly, "Kalena?"

"No, no," Katherine flushed. _What was wrong with her? Something about him was catching her off guard. She had to be more careful._ "It's Elena. Just Elena."

"Elena," Stefan nodded slowly, "That's a pretty name. It suits you."

Something flared within Katherine, which appallingly felt like jealousy. She gritted her teeth to quench the feeling. This wasn't supposed to happen. It _couldn't _happen. "Thank you," she finally managed to say, her voice sounding meek. The bell rang at that moment, saving her from any further embarrassment. "Um, ready to go?"

He grinned, "Lead the way."

* * *

_[E]_

Elena consulted her schedule as the bell rang, signalling the end of her AP Psych class. So far she wasn't having trouble keeping up with the material, which had been one of her many concerns when Katherine had first come up with this plan. Speaking of which...Elena took out her cell phone to check her messages, but her sister still hadn't returned her text from earlier that morning.

"Hey, you," Rebekah fell into step with her, "Where are you headed to?"

"Free period," Elena crossed her arms, hugging her binder to her chest as they walked down the hallway. "Then I have lunch, and another free period right after."

"So jealous," Rebekah sighed dramatically, "It's only been four periods in and I've already got a ton of homework. Can't they ever give us a break?"

Elena smiled politely, her mind already elsewhere. "I'm going to the library," she said, nodding towards the large double doors to their right. "I'll see you later?"

Rebekah frowned, "You're going to the library? What for?"

"To...start on my homework?" Elena answered haltingly, wondering what on earth she had said to cause Rebekah to look at her with such bewilderment. "Why?"

"But you never..." Rebekah trailed off, glancing down at her watch and swearing under her breath. "I gotta go. You know how Ms. Starr gets whenever someone is late for her Journalism class. See you later!"

Elena pursed her lips as she watched Bex hurry away and disappear into the crowd. Katherine didn't go the library? This was news to her. Honestly, couldn't Katherine have given her a set of rules on her habits or something? If they weren't more careful then someone was bound to notice that something wasn't right...and then all of this would be for nothing.

She made her way to the back of the library, skirting around comfortable looking armchairs (this place was certainly more well furnished than the school library back home) until she finally found an empty desk almost hidden from view by two large bookshelves. She perched on the edge of the table as she rummaged through her bag, trying to find her iPod. That was when she inadvertently heard a familiar voice speaking in a low tone behind the shelf to her left.

And by "familiar" she meant that he had only spoken a couple sentences to her, but she had already memorized the distinctive quality his voice held. Elena bit her lip, not wanting to be accused of eavesdropping if he decided to step out from behind the shelf and found her standing there. Her hand closed around her iPod at that moment and she hurriedly shoved the headphones into her ears.

Just in the nick of time, too, because Damon emerged not more than a second later. To say that he looked surprised to see her would be an enormous understatement. "Katherine?" he asked incredulously, "What are you doing in here?"

Elena took one earbud out and tilted her head at him, "What do you mean?"

He took a step towards her, giving her the opportunity to realize she was already backed up into a desk. "In all the time we went to this school together, I have never once seen you step foot into the library."

"You've been gone a while," she responded coolly, "Things change."

"Apparently," Damon looked her over again, his eyes narrowing as he took several more steps forward. Elena held her ground, knowing that he was trying to make her feel trapped. As long as she didn't react in any way, he would back off.

At least, she hoped he would.

Another part of her (a very small but insistent part) was craving the adrenaline rush that Damon's presence seemed to bring.

The corner of his mouth turned up, his expression falling into an easy smirk as he seemed to study her body language. Elena frowned. Why did he give off the impression that he could see right through her?

"You weren't very nice to me earlier," Damon commented, and though his tone could be construed as teasing, his voice came out dangerously low. He placed a hand on the edge of the table next to her, so that he was almost towering over her.

In any case, he was totally invading her personal space.

Elena could feel her palms getting sweaty, but crossing her arms at this point would make her look like she was letting him affect her. And he wasn't.

_Really._

So she placed her hands on either side of where she was sitting, leaning backwards nonchalantly. The only downfall of this idea was that now her left hand was side by side with the hand he was resting on the table.

But maybe that's what her subconscious had wanted all along.

Damon glanced down briefly, and when he looked up again she was staring straight at him with a smirk of her own. "No more than you deserved," Elena drawled, mimicking Katherine's mannerisms as she not so subtly crossed her legs, causing her skirt to hike up an inch and expose an expanse of her olive skin. Damon's eyes had darkened again, and he moved closer to her, placing his other hand on her right so that she was effectively caged in.

"Hmm," he murmured (at least, that's what she thought he said...at this close range, the only thing she could actively focus on was the intensity of the blue in his eyes). "I don't remember you being this much of a tease, dear Kat..."

Elena didn't let this statement bother her. From what she had seen of Katherine during the summer, her twin was definitely a flirt through and through. Perhaps Damon didn't know his _dear Kat _as much as he thought he did. "Like I said," Elena said, forcing her voice to become husky, "Things have changed."

Something akin to excitement flashed in Damon's gaze, and she could feel his breath brush her ear as he leaned in to whisper, "Looks like I'm going to have to work for it then. Not to worry Kat, you know how much I _love _a challenge..." With these final words, he backed off and shot her a grin before disappearing through a back door she hadn't noticed before.

Elena suddenly felt rather lightheaded and realized she had been holding her breath. She let it out slowly and breathed in again, trying to steady her erratic heartbeat. _What WAS it about him? _

Before she had time to ponder the question, her phone began vibrating and she looked down to see Katherine's name flash on her screen. "About time," Elena said as she answered, wandering further into the back of the library so that she was in her own isolated corner. "We have a lot of things to discuss, Kat. For starters, I think it's time you told me the real story about what happened between you and Damon Salvatore."

* * *

_*fans self* writing a flirty Damon is way too much fun ;) hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and hope that everyone in the path of the hurricane making its way up the East Coast stays safe! xoxo_


	4. Two Can Keep A Secret

**A/N: **I've gotten some truly sweet reviews for this story, thank you so much everyone! :)

* * *

_[K]_

Katherine was momentarily thrown off guard. "Damon? Why are you bringing him up again?"

"I want to know the whole story," Elena insisted from the other end of the line. "I need to know what happened between the two of you, Katherine. Do you still have feelings for him?"

Katherine, who had been wandering listlessly through the courtyard behind the school, came to an abrupt halt. "_Feelings_? What the hell are you talking about? Why would you say that?" Then, horrified, she hissed, "Wait, did you SPEAK to him?"

"Well he came up to me and—" Elena broke off, sounding flustered. "Obviously, I had to speak to him…and you left me without a clue of how to act around him, Kat!"

"I told you to stay away from him," Katherine snapped, "I told you he was more trouble than he was worth, and you couldn't even listen to me! If there's one person that can blow our cover then it's him! Why do you not understand that?"

"Because you won't tell me anything!" Elena sounded frustrated, "Maybe I would be able to understand if you just _told me the truth!" _ When Katherine didn't immediately respond, Elena continued heatedly, "And it doesn't help matters that the whole school is buzzing about the two of you. No one will say anything to my face, but I'd have to be a complete idiot to not hear the rumors flying behind my back!"

Katherine pursed her lips in anger, "Where are you right now, anyway?"

"The library. In the back. Don't worry, no one is around that can hear me."

"What?" Katherine groaned as she hurriedly made her way to the school parking lot—the one area that seemed completely secluded at the moment. "Why would you go the library? I never go there!"

"Well that's not exactly something you ever mentioned," Elena shot back, "I guess your little friends will just have to get used to _you_ being a little different this year."

Unconsciously, Katherine had made her way to Stefan's car. At least she knew for sure that he had class for the next 45 minutes so he wouldn't inadvertently come out and see her standing next to his car like a total stalker.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"

Katherine blinked, realizing that Elena had been chattering away (as usual). "Fine," she grumbled, "You want the full story about me and Damon? Well, here it is: I was just starting out freshman year when Damon transferred in. He was a junior at the time."

"Now we're making progress," Elena's voice sounded oddly calm after all the shouting she had done earlier. "Keep going."

"He was…" Katherine paused, trying to find the right words to describe Damon Salvatore. "Mysterious and exciting...there was something about him that had every girl wanting him to notice her."

"And you were one of these girls," Elena prompted, causing Katherine to shake her head even though she knew Elena wouldn't be able to see her.

"No, that's the thing…I didn't care about him. I was…_am_…popular and I had a boyfriend and…everything was fine."

Elena was silent for a long minute. "What changed?"

"My mom took me aside once she found out about Damon attending the same school as me. I can still picture that day clearly," Katherine closed her eyes, remembering the expression on her mother's face as she warned her against Damon. "She told me a little about the case she had worked against Giuseppe all those years ago…how our two families understandably had all this built up animosity. I don't know, I guess she sort of made Damon seem like the forbidden fruit."

"So...once you knew he didn't fall under the approval list, you suddenly wanted him?" Elena's tone was laced with disdain, "God, could you be more of a cliché, Kat?"

Katherine winced at Elena's bluntness. "It wasn't just me," she said defensively, "Damon got the same speech from his dad—about staying away from me. We were both rebelling against our overbearing parents who only cared about themselves and their work." She shrugged, idly picking at a piece of grass growing in between the crack in the ground. "We were young, it wasn't a big deal."

"_You_ were young," Elena corrected, sounding thoughtful. "Wasn't Damon 17 at the time?"

"Yeah, and I was fifteen. I guess he's been kicked out of so many boarding schools since then that he's never actually managed to graduate. Explains why he's 20 years old and still in his senior year," Katherine tried to laugh, but it sounded more like grimace even to her own ears.

"Who knew you guys were together?"

"No one knew for sure...It was supposed to be a secret. That was half the fun of it."

Elena heaved a sigh, "Fine. Well, why did he leave?"

"He left the summer right before sophomore year started—to California according to your father. Something to do with Giuseppe's company I think, I'm not sure. Damon and I never contacted each other again."

"But were you guys…" Elena hesitated, "I mean, did you…"

"Miss him?" Katherine chewed on her lip. "Our whole relationship consisted of sneaking around, and having that excitement taken away sort of left this…emptiness in my life. But I got over it. Like I said, it was never serious." Suddenly suspicious, she demanded, "Why?"

"Damon's been acting like you two were…I don't know, in love?"

"We weren't," Katherine answered vehemently, "And don't trust in anything Damon says or does. He's a huge flirt, and he'll make any girl feel special just to boost his own ego. He's gorgeous and he knows it. This is why I warned you to stay away from him, Elena. If you don't give him the time of day, then he won't have the satisfaction of getting under your skin. That's what he wants, that's what he thrives on. Do you get that?"

"Okay, okay," Elena muttered under her breath. Then, begrudgingly, she added, "Thank you for being honest with me about him. It helps to know the whole story."

Katherine took a deep breath, "While we're being honest, I guess you should know that his brother—Stefan—is in Mystic Falls right now. He's our age, so he's in a bunch of my classes—"

"_What_!?" Elena exclaimed, "Way to bury the lead, Kat! Did he recognize you? Does he know you?"

"No, we never met back in New York," Katherine hastily explained, "And I found out he's staying with his Uncle Zach for the time being. I know Stefan and Damon never got along, and both of the brothers have a really strained relationship with Giuseppe. I'm not sure why Stefan chose to come here while Damon and his father went back home, but—"

"But it doesn't matter," Elena interrupted, "What's important that Stefan _never _finds out who you are."

"I know," Katherine answered mulishly, "I know how to keep a secret. The question is, can you?"

* * *

_[E]_

As soon as Elena exited the library, a bright orange flyer was thrust into her face. "Check it out," Rebekah said brightly, "The annual back to school bash at the Lockwood mansion is this weekend! We're going, right?"

Elena's heart sank. It was one thing to play the part of Katherine at school, but keeping up the charade in a party environment seemed like it would be significantly more...difficult. "I don't know," she shifted from foot to foot indecisively, "I might have plans."

"Oh, come on, Katherine!" Rebekah nearly looked like she was pouting, "We've gone every year since we were freshmen—plus this is our last chance, it's senior year! Please? For me?"

Elena glanced around the hallway, where most people were carrying one of the flyers in their hands. "Everyone else is going," she pointed out, "You can still go, even if I won't be there."

Rebekah stared at her incredulously.

"Yo, Pierce!"

It took Elena an extra beat to realize that this was now her last name, and she belatedly turned around to see Tyler Lockwood heading her direction. He had been in the binder that Katherine had given her, but there hadn't been much information about him. He was the mayor's son, and he had an older brother who had graduated two years ago from the same school. As far as Elena knew, Tyler and Katherine didn't really share a history. Except apparently she went to his parties.

"Lockwood," she nodded in acknowledgment, "Have a good summer?"

"Went to basketball camp," Tyler shrugged, his gaze hardening for a second. "And by camp, I mean it was more like boot camp. I couldn't wait to get back here, even if it meant living under my dad's roof again."

Elena's brow furrowed. He was being awfully forthcoming about his personal life to someone he was (supposedly?) not very close to. Maybe his relationship with the mayor was common knowledge in the school?

In any case, she was saved from trying to figure out an appropriate answer by Rebekah, who grinned and bounded over to Tyler to give him a hug. "I just heard the news about your party! We'll be there, right, Kat?"

Tyler turned to look at her expectantly. Between this and Rebekah's pleading expression, Elena was beginning to feel trapped. "I..."

"My brother is taking a year off college," Tyler suddenly said, sending a significant look in Elena's direction. "So he's at home right now. He'll be at the party."

Elena gave him a vague smile in response. _Was that information supposed to mean something to her?_ She mentally went through everything she had memorized from Katherine's binder, but she was coming up empty.

"But that's perfect," Rebekah's eyes lit up, "All the more reason to go, right?"

"Hey," Tyler stepped closer to Elena and briefly touched her arm, lowering his voice. "Damon will be there too, Katherine. This is your chance to get him back for leaving like that. He doesn't know about Mason being back in the city. I thought you might appreciate that."

_Who on earth was Mason? _It took her a second, but she quickly put two and two together and discerned that Tyler was referring to his brother. She took a deep breath. It looked like she really didn't have a choice in the matter anymore. "Sure," she responded quietly so that only Tyler and Rebekah would be able to hear her, "I'll be there."

"Great," he looked enormously relieved, though she couldn't fathom why. "See you around, Kat." He had already begun backing away before he added, "You too, Bex."

After he left, Rebekah turned to Elena, glowing. "He's gotten much cuter over the summer, wouldn't you say?"

Elena wasn't quite sure how to answer this. Tyler was certainly attractive, but a certain blue-eyed someone was the only person currently taking over her thoughts.

"Well, I guess he's not your type," Rebekah went on when Elena didn't immediately answer. "You have a thing for older guys, don't you?" She gave her a sly smile, "Mason and Damon in the same room after all this time...everyone's going to be talking about _that _one on Monday." She handed Elena the flyer, "I have to get my purse from my locker, then I'll meet you out front for lunch?"

Elena nodded blankly, her mind already elsewhere. _At every corner, it seemed like she ran into another one of Katherine's secrets. How was she supposed to play the part if she kept getting blindsided by all these new developments!?_

"I take it you're going to that little shindig? It's funny, you say that everything's changed but somehow it just seems like more of the same." Damon suddenly appeared in front of her, and he took the flyer out of her hand, "Going solo?"

She leaned back against the lockers, glancing up and down the hallway in dismay. Apart from a few stragglers, the two of them were essentially alone. _Why did this keep happening to her? _"That's none of your business, Damon," Elena replied disinterestedly, "And I'm not even sure I'll be going."

"Katherine Pierce turning down the chance to show off her latest pretty dress? Color me shocked."

Elena crossed her arms, slightly hurt even though he wasn't technically talking about _her_. "Is that all you think I am? A shallow, materialistic—"

"Yes," Damon interrupted her before she could continue, "But I just call things as I see them. That's what you used to like about me, remember?"

She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

And judging by the expression on his face, it looked like he was almost testing her reaction for something.

"From what I recall, I didn't _like _you at all," Elena answered in an even tone, watching his face carefully to see if this was news to him (or if Katherine had been telling the truth).

Unfortunately, he didn't look the least bit fazed. "Oh come on, Kat," Damon stepped closer, placing one hand against the lockers next to her. "There's no one around, you don't have to pretend you never felt anything..." His body brushed against hers as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Don't you remember the last time we were at the Lockwood mansion together?" His breath was hot against the side of her face, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body surround her completely.

It was overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.

Elena closed her eyes, pressing her back more firmly against the lockers, desperate for the metal to cool her down.

"You came with _him_, of course," Damon was saying, his lips now just barely grazing her cheek. "But we went upstairs when no one was looking and into that bedroom...it was dark, you were in that tight red dress that went up to...here." Elena drew her breath in sharply as she suddenly felt Damon's hands skim her mid-thigh, the warmth from his fingers easily slipping through the thin material of her skirt.

Her heart was pounding too loudly, he was everywhere, his scent invading all her senses, it was too much—_he _was too much. "Damon," she finally gasped out, not caring if her cheeks were flushed or if she sounded breathless. "Stop."

He backed away, looking supremely pleased with himself. A fully pronounced smirk tugged at his lips as he studied the effect he'd had on her. "I look forward to seeing what new memories we'll make at the Lockwood mansion this time around," he told her, his voice deepening suggestively. Then he shoved his hands into his pockets and casually sauntered away down the hallway, leaving Elena speechless behind him.


	5. Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here

**A/N: **i've noticed a lot of people want to know the backstory of the twins, and why they switched, etc. Not to worry, we shall find out soon enough ;)

* * *

_[K]_

When she had hung up the phone, Katherine reluctantly made her way to the cafeteria. She hadn't actually come face to face with any of Elena's friends yet, but she knew she couldn't put off the inevitable forever.

She might've been able to fool John (so far) and Elena's teachers, but this was going to be a true testament of her skills.

"Elena!"

Katherine's eyes landed on the blonde girl who was waving her over, and quickly put a name to the face: Caroline Forbes.

"Hi!" Katherine responded excitedly, accepting Caroline's hug with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. "I've missed you so much! How was your summer?"

"Boring, without you!" Caroline grinned, her blonde locks bouncing on her shoulders. Katherine smiled back, tilting her head as she surreptitiously studied her new friend. There was something about her that just seemed like sunshine and unicorns bound up in a pretty little package.

"No really, she's serious," a male voice commented, and Katherine turned to see a sturdy blonde-haired football player stand up from their table and give Caroline a kiss on the cheek. "She's been complaining for weeks that you guys haven't been around to keep her company." He shot his girlfriend a sidelong glance, "I don't know if I should be offended that my company wasn't enough?"

"Oh shut up," Caroline swatted him halfheartedly, sticking her tongue out at him. "There are some needs that only a girlfriend can fulfill, my dear Matt."

"It's true," another girl added, and Katherine's attention was drawn to Bonnie Bennett. She had stunning green eyes that seemed oddly perceptive. In contrast to Caroline's bubbly personality, Bonnie had a strikingly quieter demeanor.

"Hey!" Katherine reached over to hug Bonnie, but immediately noticed that the other girl was oddly stiff in her arms. "Um," she pulled back in confusion, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Bonnie said quickly, ducking her head so that Katherine couldn't read her expression. "How's your first day going so far? It's weird we haven't had any classes together yet—"

"She's having boy drama," Caroline interrupted, ignoring Bonnie's exasperated look. "It's Luka. He's been distant all summer. He went away with his family to Georgia for vacation and when he came back, apparently he's not acting as into her as he was before—"

"Oh," Katherine said awkwardly. _What would Elena do in this situation? She would certainly care, but would she pry? Hmm, probably not…_

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?" Bonnie was saying, "It's bad enough that I haven't seen him all day."

Katherine hesitated, then sat down next to Bonnie and lowered her voice. "Hey," she said softly, "You can always talk to me, you know that right?" Trying to imitate Elena's gentle attitude, she placed a hand on Bonnie's arm. "I get that you don't want to talk about it right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm there for you. Whenever you need."

Bonnie broke out into a grateful smile, "Thanks, Elena. That means a lot to me."

_Whew, first test passed. _

"Hello."

Katherine jumped, looking up to see a familiar face smiling down at her. "S-stefan," she stammered, "What are you doing here?"

"Looks like we have the same lunch period," Stefan cleared his throat, suddenly seeming to become aware that Matt, Bonnie, and Caroline were all gaping up at him. "Do you mind if I sit with you? It's just, I haven't really made any other friends yet and—"

"Sit!" Caroline practically squealed, and Matt raised an eyebrow. "I mean," she coughed, speaking in a more normal tone of voice. "Of course you can sit with us, we don't bite."

"Well," Matt stretched, placing his arm around her shoulders in a clear territorial move, "Sometimes you do…"

"Shut up," Caroline said again, an adorable pink tinge spreading across her face as she shot a furtive look in Stefan's direction. "Ignore him, he's kidding."

"No, I'm n—"

"So anyway," Bonnie interrupted, "It's nice to meet you. Stefan, right?"

He smiled thinly, "I guess everyone knows who I am, huh?"

"It's nothing personal," Bonnie reassured him, "It's just that, this is Mystic Falls. Everyone knows everything that goes on here."

"Oh really?" Stefan grinned, "What if I was some secret serial killer or something? Would you guys know that, too?"

Caroline laughed, "Serial killer? Yeah, right. This is _Mystic Falls_."

He looked briefly confused, "So?"

Katherine smiled back at him, elaborating, "It's Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here."

* * *

_[E]_

Elena stepped out of the school building, and let out a loud sigh of relief. She had survived. The first full day of school. She had actually survived. Her mind flashed back to her interactions with everyone that day: her mother, Anna, Trevor, Rebekah, her teachers, Tyler, Damon. It hadn't seemed like anyone suspected anything was off, but Katherine was right. Damon _was _the one person who probably knew Kat well enough to know the difference between an imposter and the real deal. She would have to start being more careful around him.

She bit her lip, thinking about how he held the upper hand now that he knew how much he affected her. However, from the way Katherine had talked about him, it was clear she had been more into the idea of rebelling against her mother's wishes than actually being into _him_.

If Elena wanted to sell this act, then she would have to start acting that way, too.

"Hey, Kat!"

She didn't even have to turn around to recognize Rebekah's dulcet tones. Elena tried to hide her irritation. No matter where she was, her new BFF seemed to find her, just like an extremely persistent shadow. It was seriously beginning to grate on her nerves.

"What's going on?" she asked simply when Rebekah reached her, hoping that the blonde would get the hint that she wasn't interested in a conversation right now.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping for some killer new dresses to wear for the party this weekend!" Bex leaned in, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "You'll want something hot if Mason is there, am I right?"

"I don't know," Elena replied uninterestedly. The effort of carrying a double personality was starting to wear thin and she didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to keep up the charade for the day. "It's only Monday, can't we go shopping on Friday or something?"

Rebekah looked appalled. "But the party is on _Saturday_!"

"So?" Elena's response was instinctive, but she realized her mistake about two seconds later. "I mean," she hastily amended, "I'm just a little tired right now. How about we go after school tomorrow?"

"Alright," Rebekah was frowning at her, her eyes narrowing as she studied Elena. "Say, are you sure you're feeling okay? You're not acting like...yourself."

"I'm fine," Elena clenched her fists together to hide her growing nervousness. If _Rebekah _(someone who Katherine claimed she wasn't even close to) was asking questions, then this was never going to work. "I'm just tired from the plane ride yesterday and stuff," she went on, trying to keep her voice calm. "I'm fine, Bex, really."

"Oh right," Rebekah finally smiled, shaking her head. "I totally forgot you only got back yesterday! Tomorrow afternoon it is, then." She waved as she headed towards an expensive looking car and clicked it open. Elena's eyes roamed over the other cars in the parking lot with faint disdain. It was clear these people had money to burn. Then her gaze happened to land on the limo sitting just out of sight and she had to remind herself that she (or Katherine, as it were) was no different.

"Hello, Trevor," Elena greeted formally as she got into the backseat of the limo, "How are you today?"

"Just fine, Miss Pierce," her driver answered politely, "Where would you like me to take you?"

She blinked in confusion. _What kind of question was that? _"Home...?"

"Very good," Trevor responded quickly, though not quick enough to cover up his surprised tone. Elena opened her mouth to ask what the problem was, but he explained without letting her speak. "Usually you go shopping or get your hair done or one of your many other activities after school. Are you not feeling up for it today?"

It was all Elena could do to not scream in frustration. Back in Mystic Falls, no one cared what she did after school. She went home, did her homework, got dinner ready, showered, relaxed and had time to herself before her father got home. Her every move wasn't watched. She didn't have a _schedule _she had to follow. She didn't—

"Miss Katherine?"

Elena massaged her temples, not caring that Trevor was staring at her in bewilderment. "I'm tired," she repeated, weariness making her voice sharper than usual. "I'd like to go home."

"Of course."

As he began maneuvering through the streets, Elena closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the leather seat. Being Katherine was a lot more work than she had initially bargained for. Even with all her concerns about how they were going to pull off the scheme, it hadn't crossed her mind just how..._exhausting_...the whole ordeal was going to be. She sighed, already nostalgic for her substantially less complicated life in Mystic Falls.

The limo pulled to a stop more than thirty minutes later, by which time Elena was fairly itching to get out of her school uniform. The novelty of looking like a rich private school girl had long since worn off, and now all she wanted to do was shower and pull on some comfy PJs like she would've done back home.

Unfortunately, as soon as she stepped into the house, she knew her plans for the night weren't going to happen.

"Katherine, sweetheart, you're home," Isobel was already standing in the foyer, clearly waiting for her to arrive. "How was your first day?"

"It was fine..." Elena trailed off, growing increasingly suspicious of her mother's presence. "Why are you...um, I mean...aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Yes, well, I got a rather interesting phone call at work today," Isobel gestured for Elena to follow her into the living room, where she saw an already half empty bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table. "And you will never guess from whom."

Elena's initial thought was that someone had figured out the Switch, but this line of conversation didn't seem to be leading to that particular accusation. So she settled on a curious, "Who?"

"None other than Giuseppe Salvatore."

Elena's mouth dropped open.

"Yes, I can see you're just as surprised as I was," Isobel took another sip of wine, though Elena knew that the delicate sipping must've just been for her benefit. How else would half the bottle already be gone?

"Why would he call you? Isn't that...against the law or something? I mean, you _are _the prosecuting attorney. Did his lawyer tell him to call you?"

"He claims he would just like a friendly get-together to bury the hatchet, so to speak," Isobel rolled her eyes. "We won't be allowed to discuss the case, of course—"

"Wait," Elena squeaked, getting to her feet. "You told him _yes!?"_

"Of course I did," Isobel looked slightly surprised by her outburst. "I've never been one to back down from a challenge, you know that."

"But—"

"They'll be over promptly at 7," her mother went on, seemingly ignoring her protestations. "It'll be just the four of us, but I've already told the chef to cook up a feast. I couldn't resist."

Elena wasn't listening. "The..._four_...of us?"

"Yes," Isobel looked puzzled, "You and I, and Giuseppe and his son."

Her throat became dry. "D-damon? But you told me to stay away from him!"

"Circumstances change, my dear," Isobel got to her feet as well and firmly grasped Elena's shoulders. "We have to show those Salvatores that they are nothing to be feared, understand?"

Elena nodded mutely, not knowing what else she could possibly say. It seemed that once Isobel's mind was made up, there was no reasoning with her.

"Wonderful," her mother smiled, rubbing her hands together. "Now go on upstairs and shower. I'll be up shortly to help you pick out an appropriate dress to wear for tonight."

Elena clenched her jaw as she stiffly turned and made her way up the stairs. She didn't _want _to play dress-up and put on an act for the Salvatores, least of all for Damon! It was one thing to play the part at school, but in front of her _mother!? _How was she supposed to act? Katherine had told her that the relationship with Damon had been a secret, but then what sort of front had they played in front of their parents?

"Kat?" Elena looked up, startled, to see Anna laying out several dresses on her bed. "What's wrong?" Anna asked in concern, abandoning the dresses and immediately coming over to Elena. "You look upset about something."

"I..." She frantically cast around for a believable excuse, settling on, "Did you hear who's coming over for dinner?"

"I did," Anna smiled sympathetically, "Your mother and her stubbornness...I must say, I was impressed that she even agreed to have that man set foot inside this house. Considering how much she hates him, I mean."

"I wouldn't say 'impressed' is the term I would use," Elena answered uncharitably. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"We'll just have to trust in your mother's judgement, I suppose," Anna tilted her head, still looking worried. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong? You don't have to if you don't want to, but you know if you want someone to talk to..." When Elena didn't answer, Anna pulled on her arm and tugged her to sit down on the bed. "Did something happen at school today?" She shot a glance at the door and lowered her voice, "Did something happen with Damon?"

"W-what?" Elena's eyes widened at the implication. _Did this mean that Anna had been in on Katherine's secret relationship? Why wouldn't Katherine tell her that!?_

"Don't worry," Anna placed a comforting hand on her arm, "It's still our secret, Kat. I never told anyone, least of all your mother. Is that why you're upset about her inviting them over for dinner?"

"Yes," she answered hoarsely, gladly latching onto this excuse. It was close enough to the truth that perhaps Anna would be able to help her, after all. "I don't know how I'm supposed to..."

"Act around him?" Anna looked thoughtful, "Just remember, you don't owe him anything, Kat. He won't do anything in front of his father, anyway. You know how he gets in Giuseppe's presence. Gone is the headstrong bad boy, and in his place is quiet little Daddy's boy. Trust me, you won't have anything to worry about tonight."

"Right," Elena nodded slowly, wrapping her head around Anna's words. "You're right, I shouldn't be worried. He won't do anything in front of his father."

"Exactly," Anna stood up with a smile, "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, I do. Thank you."

"No problem at all," Anna gave her a gentle nudge, "Now hurry up and shower. Isobel told me that she wants to pick out your dress for tonight, and you know how she likes to fuss, especially if she's trying to impress somebody."

Two hours later, Elena stood in front of her mirror, studying her reflection in awe. She was wearing a deep purple dress that fell to just above her knees; it wrapped around her body and then loosened around her hips so that it fell into a flowing circle. A silver chain hung around her neck, the pendant shining brightly against the dark color of the dress, and her hair cascaded in loose waves just past her shoulders. She looked absolutely nothing like herself, and every bit like Katherine Pierce.

The doorbell rang at that minute, coinciding neatly with the spike in her heart rate. _Stay calm_, she coached herself, _BE Katherine. _

"Katherine, come downstairs," Isobel called a few minutes later, "Our guests are here."

"Be there in a minute," Elena called back, breathing an internal sigh of relief that her voice wasn't shaking. Instead she sounded cool and collected, like fancy dinner parties were something she attended on a frequent basis.

She made her way down the staircase, but her steps faltered when she heard someone whistle appreciatively. For one horrifying moment, she thought it had been Damon—but then she quickly realized it had been the older man standing next to him. _Ah, so this was Giuseppe Salvatore..._

"Well, well, you've certainly grown into a beautiful young woman, Katherine," Giuseppe eyed her in what was certainly a less than appropriate manner as she continued her descent, "I'm sure you're fending the boys off, aren't you, Isobel?"

"I trust in my daughter's taste," Isobel answered, placing one hand on Elena's back. "She's always had a terrific sense of judgment, which is more than I can say for some people, of course."

"Already with the pointed comments?" Giuseppe laughed, though he didn't sound the least bit amused. "I was hoping we'd at least be seated for dinner before those started!"

"Then by all means," Isobel gestured into the dining room with a pseudo gracious smile, "Follow me."

Elena began to follow the two adults, but a hand closed around her wrist and pulled her backwards. She didn't turn around, inadvertently letting her back adjust comfortably against Damon's warm chest. "What do you want?" she hissed, trying (and failing) to pull her wrist out of his grip. "This isn't the time or place, Damon."

He murmured something in her ear, his breath caressing her cheek in a way that made her completely forget that both their parents were just one room away. "Huh?" she turned her head instinctively, and sucked in a startled breath when she realized how close they were standing. His lips were inches away from hers, all she had to do was stand on her tiptoes and—

"I _said_, you look beautiful in that dress," Damon smiled at her, for once sounding entirely sincere. He touched her bare shoulder, his thumb stroking her skin in tiny circles. "Care to make this dinner interesting?"

Elena took a step backwards, trying to regain her thought process. "What do you mean?" she asked him evenly, quite proud of herself for not sounding breathless. Maybe she was getting the hang of this thing...

Damon took a couple steps to the left so that he could peer into the dining room. When he looked back at her, it was with a devilish glint in his eye. "Looks like the two of us will be sitting across from each other," he informed her, letting his fingertips skitter across her arm as he brushed past her, "Just think of all the fun I can have with that." With a final wink, he waggled his eyebrows at her and strode into the dining room, calling languidly over his shoulder, "_Coming_, Kat?"


	6. Game On

**A/N: **First, sorry for the late update! I usually try to post at least once a week, but I got busy with the holiday this past week. So, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving :) Second, this is also a (belated) birthday present to LokYa who has always been one of my biggest fanfic supporters, so thank you for that! And finally, thanks to everyone for your reviews. Enjoy!

**P.S.** I'm participating in the D/E xmas fic exchange on Livejournal (hosted by BadBoysAreBest) so be on the lookout for some holiday-themed D/E one-shots coming soon ;)

* * *

_[K]_

Katherine stood on the sidewalk in front of her new school, frowning to herself. John had driven her this morning, so she hadn't had to worry about transportation—but now her options were either taking the bus (she shuddered) or…walking. She looked up and down the street, wondering if she was going to have to call Elena for directions. _Honestly, why didn't Elena have a car anyway? It didn't even have to be an expensive car, but couldn't she even afford—_

"Ugh, I'm going to be so late!" Caroline Forbes went rushing by her, hopping on one foot as she tried to tie her shoelaces. "You're so lucky your dad isn't making you work this semester," she called over her shoulder, not paying attention to where she was going as she fairly sprinted down the crowded sidewalk. "Sorry!" she squealed as she bumped into several people, sending a last wave in Katherine's direction before she became indiscernible in the masses of students exiting the building.

"Some people never change," Bonnie commented, smiling fondly as she appeared at Katherine's side, shading her eyes as she squinted down the street. "Leave it to Caroline to schedule herself to start working like five minutes after classes end for the day. She might have to get herself a pair of rollerblades." There was a pause and then Bonnie burst out into giggles, "Remember fifth grade when we tried to learn and Caroline was showing off in front of those high school guys?"

Katherine's smile faltered. "Yeah," she agreed quickly, looking away. "So," she added, casting about for an excuse to change the subject, "You seem like you're in a better mood than you were at lunch…did you talk to Luka?"

Bonnie's eyes lit up, "Yeah, I did." She nodded to a car that was pulling up at the curb at that moment, "We're gonna hang out at his house till his parents get home." She grinned, "Finally, things are going back to normal."

"Hey, Elena," the windows rolled down of the car that had stopped in front of them, and Luka leaned sideways in his seat to push open the passenger door. "How was your summer?"

"It was good," Katherine crouched slightly so that she could see him through the open door. "How was yours? Bonnie tells me you went to Georgia with your family?"

"Yeah, just visiting my grandmother. It was pretty low key." Luka shrugged, adjusting his shades as Bonnie buckled herself into the seat. "Ready to go?"

Bonnie nodded, but then stopped, her hair flying as she whirled back around to look at Katherine. "Oh wait, do you need a ride anywhere?"

Katherine hesitated, glancing from Luka to Bonnie. "I…"

A car beeped from behind them, and a familiar voice called out Elena's name. Katherine automatically turned towards the sound, recognizing Stefan's car almost immediately. He waved at her, sticking his head out the window, "Need a ride home?"

Bonnie subtly winked at her, "Looks like you have a better offer waiting. Call me later with the details."

"I don't—"

But Luka was already driving off, and Katherine had no choice but to reluctantly get into Stefan's car. He smiled at her, in a way that had butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Hey."

"Hey," she returned, subconsciously tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks for…" she tilted her head, confused as he confidently started driving down the street, "Do you know where I live?"

For some reason, Stefan looked bewildered for a second before slowing down the car. "No," he admitted, looking sheepish. "But I have a GPS, just go ahead and put your address in. I know Mystic Falls is pretty small, so it can't be far, right?"

"Not too far," Katherine muttered under her breath as she punched in Elena's address. Belatedly, she was thinking of how the Gilberts house looked in contrast to the riches that the Salvatores were rolling in. It was stupid and irrational, but she didn't really want Stefan to see where she lived…definitely not the interior, anyway.

"So," Stefan began, breaking the silence that Katherine hadn't even noticed. "Your friends seem nice. Caroline's boyfriend…Matt, right? He's on the football team?"

"Yeah," she stared out the window as the scenery grew familiar, signaling they were nearing Elena's house. "Why? Did you want to try out for the team?"

"I don't know, I thought it might be a good way to meet some people. What do you think?"

Before Katherine could respond, the GPS interrupted with the obligatory '_You have arrived at your destination.'_

"Oh is this your house?" Stefan asked, pulling to a stop and peering out the window. "Is your—I mean, are your parents home?"

"No," she answered without thinking, "My dad is at work, he doesn't get home till way later."

Stefan shot her a furtive glance, "So would it be alright if I came in for a little bit?"

That brought her up short and she stumbled over her words, "Well, um, see the thing is…John…I mean, my dad…he doesn't really like when I, ah…" Katherine trailed off, hearing herself speak and knowing she sounded like a complete moron. "What I mean to say is—"

"Is your dad one of those strict ones?" Stefan grinned, "Don't worry, Elena. I won't tell if you won't." He began to get out of the car, "Besides, we're just going to hang out. We can even start our homework together if you want."

Katherine slowly got out of the car, suddenly irritated with his persistent behavior. He hadn't seemed so…_pushy…_earlier that day. "Alright well, come on in then," she said dully, unlocking the door and waving him in. "You can go ahead and take a seat in the…"

But Stefan was already walking into the living room, looking around curiously. "So it's just you and your dad?"

"Yeah," she crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just asking," he shrugged, looking nonchalant as he took a seat in an armchair. "Do you guys get along?"

Katherine chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to remember what Elena had said when she had described her relationship with John. "He's not around a lot," she finally answered, "Work is really important to him. I guess we don't interact enough to really have a relationship."

Stefan nodded, not responding though he seemed to be looking at her almost expectantly.

"What about your dad?" Katherine returned, since he seemed to be itching to talk to someone about his problems. _Why else would he be staring at her like that?_

He gave her a faint smile, "It's okay, Elena. You don't have to pretend that you haven't read my life story in the papers. God knows everyone else has."

"I haven't," she responded defensively, "Really." When he raised an eyebrow at her skeptically, she elaborated, "I was in Boston for the whole summer and I just got back to town yesterday. My dad filled me in on some of the stuff that's been going on around here, but I didn't read about you in the papers." She paused and then added with a hint of a smirk, "Yet."

Stefan met her gaze, something akin to relief flooding his features. "You have no idea how good it is to hear someone say that."

"So," she prodded, taking a seat across from him and crossing her legs. "Now I'm curious," she flashed him a flirtatious smile, "What is there to know about the infamous Stefan Salvatore?"

* * *

_[E]_

"My other son?" Giuseppe waved off Isobel's question dismissively, "Oh, he's gone to live with his Uncle Zach down in Mystic Falls. It's all for the best, if you ask me. He was never cut out for the business anyway."

"Really?" Isobel sipped her wine delicately, "Why, I don't think I ever met the boy even when your family lived here in New York a couple years ago. Katherine, dear, did you?"

"No," Elena answered, thinking back quickly to what Katherine had told her. "We never met."

Her mother gave a rather fake laugh, "You're not keeping the poor boy locked away some place now, are you Giuseppe?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he responded with his own hearty laugh, though it held not a single trace of amusement. "Stefan is much better off removed from the lifestyle that Damon and I are accustomed to. He's never quite had the stomach for it."

"Not having the stomach for embezzlement?" Isobel asked politely, "Well, I certainly would like to meet him sometime, in that case. Every family has got its own good seed, no matter how corrupt the rest of_—_"

"Watch your tongue, Isobel," the elder Salvatore cut in, the slight warning in his words edging his tone. "We wouldn't want to turn this dinner into an unfriendly affair now, would we?"

She smiled, turning her attention to Damon instead. "So, how does it feel to be back in your old stomping grounds? Katherine tells me you used to be quite popular back in the day. I would imagine it's different now that most of your friends have graduated?"

"Popularity is earned," Damon replied, holding up his wine glass in Elena's general direction. "Wouldn't you agree, Kat?"

Elena made a noncommittal noise.

Isobel turned to look at her questioningly, "Is everything alright, Katherine?"

"She's probably just daydreaming about what dress she's going to wear to that Lockwood party this weekend," Damon broke in brazenly before Elena could answer. "Aren't you?"

"Oh that's right," Isobel brightened, though Elena couldn't tell if she had accepted the excuse or not. "I spoke with Mrs. Lockwood earlier today, actually. She tells me her son is back in the city?"

Elena's eyes widened. _Damn it. _

Damon froze, his gaze swiftly turning to focus on Elena almost accusingly. "What? Mason is back?"

"Yes," she nervously began twisting one of her curls around her finger, a habit that she had picked up since she'd started curling her hair to look like Katherine. "I just found out today...Tyler told me that Mason is taking a year off school."

"I'm surprised Richard is allowing his son to do that," Isobel was saying to Giuseppe, but Damon clearly wasn't listening. He was still staring at Elena, looking less than pleased.

"You didn't tell me he was back," Damon said to her in a hard voice, "Have you spoken to him?"

"No," she answered honestly, "I was just going to...catch up with him at the party."

"Well, that'll be a nice little reunion," Isobel commented, seemingly oblivious to the tension rising in the room. "Mason and Katherine used to date," she informed Giuseppe, "They made such a wonderful couple." She frowned at Elena, "Whatever happened between the two of you?"

"Just drifted apart after he graduated I guess," she shrugged, coughing to hide the fact that her throat was growing dry. "You know how that happens." Against her will, she glanced over at Damon. The anger in his gaze was unmistakable and she immediately dropped her eyes back to her own plate.

"Mason was friend of yours, wasn't he?" Isobel was looking over at Damon now, and even Elena looked up curiously to hear his answer.

To her surprise, Damon took a minute to respond. When he finally did, his voice was tense. "Not exactly, no."

"Actually I think Mason and Damon were somewhat of rivals," Giuseppe corrected, sounding proud. "Alpha dog and all that, isn't that right, Damon?"

"Rivals?" Isobel sounded genuinely surprised, "I didn't know you played football, Damon."

"No, it wasn't about football," he responded tightly, "It was about...other stuff."

Elena's brow furrowed at Damon's tone. The lack of his usual bravado was readily apparent, though neither Giuseppe nor Isobel seemed to notice that anything was amiss. As the two of them began talking about the mayor again, Elena kept her eyes fixed on Damon. But either he was ignoring her or he didn't feel her gaze upon him, because he kept his head down.

She shot a sideways glance at her mother, but Isobel was too occupied arguing with Giuseppe to notice. Elena took a deep breath then and tentatively stretched her leg under the table until she nudged Damon's foot. He looked up immediately, startled. He frowned at her slightly, looking unsure of what had just happened. She tilted her head at him, but he didn't seem willing to play along. On the contrary, he wiped his mouth and cleared his throat as he stood up with a loud scrape of his chair. "May I be excused?"

Isobel broke off mid-sentence to gape up at him, while his father glared at him reproachfully. "Damon, we are guests in this house and it's rude to—"

"Don't worry about it," Isobel interrupted, reaching out with her hand to still Giuseppe's protests. "Katherine, sweetheart, why don't you take Damon downstairs?"

"Okay," Elena agreed, though she couldn't help but notice that Damon looked less than happy with Isobel's suggestion. "Come on," she said to him, doing her best to mask her feelings into one of indifference, "This way."

He followed behind her sullenly, until they were well out of earshot of the adults. "It's okay, we don't have to go downstairs," he told her, coming to an abrupt stop in the midst of the darkened hallway. "I think I'll just go for a walk outside instead. I wouldn't want to inflict my company on you for any longer than was necessary."

She blinked at his harsh tone, completely thrown off guard. "Wait," she grabbed his wrist as he began to walk away, but instantly withdrew her hand when she saw the stormy expression on his face. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded, "You seemed fine before dinner started. What happened between then and now?"

Damon just shook his head, "Two years hasn't changed you a single bit, Katherine." He paused, examining her confused expression in distaste before snapping, "You're still as dense as ever."

Elena's mouth dropped open, "Excuse me?"

For a second it looked like he was going to start an argument with her, but then the belligerent look on his face faded. He sighed, turning away from her. "I didn't come here to fight with you, Kat. I thought things were going to be different now. Isn't that what you said?"

Trying to stall, she looked up at him blankly, "Did I?"

"Yes," Damon said firmly, still not facing her. "That's all you've been saying all day. That things change, and everything is different now. But then I find out that Mason is back, and once again you're keeping secrets from me—it's just more of the same old Katherine Pierce; I don't know why I thought things would be different this time!"

Elena stared at his back, willing him to turn around. When he didn't, she closed her eyes, thinking back to their conversation from earlier in the day at the library. "I thought you appreciated a challenge."

Her words had the desired effect, and Damon spun around to look at her incredulously, "What did you say?"

"That's what you said," she told him, "This morning at the library. You said you liked a challenge."

"I know what I said." He pushed himself off the wall and came to stand in front of her, his gaze probing hers intensely. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Elena took a step forward so that they were inches away from each other. In the dim light of the hallway, his eyes glinted. She gave him a faint smile, "It means that Mason or no Mason..." She moved another tantalizing inch forward so that her chest just barely brushed against his, and she heard him draw his breath in sharply. "_Game on_."

She raised an eyebrow at him as she backed away and turned around to leave, but he reached out at the last second to wrap his fingers around her wrist and pull her back abruptly so that her back slammed into the hard planes of his chest. Her lips parted in surprise as he took their joined hands and ran his index finger alongside the front of her throat, the warmth from his skin igniting against hers and spreading rapidly through her body. "Think I'd let you have the last word?" Damon breathed into her ear, letting out an amused chuckle as she involuntarily shivered.

At that moment, Giuseppe chose to yell from the dining room, "Damon, are you ready to go?"

"Coming," Damon called back, at the same time tightening his arms around Elena to hold her in place. Then he lowered his voice to a seductive whisper, "Are you?"

Elena's jaw clenched, "You are such a—"

He let go of her and spun her around so that they were face to face again. "As for my parting words..." Damon smirked and then leaned towards her, his lips grazing the side of her face before murmuring into her ear, "Challenge accepted."


	7. Fool Me Once

**A/N: **Happy Holidays everyone! Wow, it's been a while since I've last updated, this whole month has been pretty busy! But I thought you guys might enjoy a new chapter on this Christmas Day ;) Enjoy!

* * *

_[K]_

"Why can't we find anywhere else to eat?" Caroline complained, ducking her head as a waitress walked over to them, balancing a tray of drinks. "I mean, I_ work _here now...it's just weird!"

"What's so weird about it?" Matt bumped her shoulder with a grin, "Maybe you can get us a discount."

Caroline rolled her eyes in response, "Sometimes I think food is all you care about, Matt Donovan."

He chortled, clearly teasing her. "Not true," he cupped her face and kissed her soundly, "I care about you, too."

"Aww," Bonnie cooed, though she pretended to gag over her fries. "Stop, all the adorable cuteness is going to make me sick before our food even gets here."

Luka smirked, resting his arm around Bonnie's shoulders. "I feel like we're losing a contest here, Bon. They've got that 'cutest couple' yearbook photo in the bag."

"Oh well," she giggled and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, "I guess we'll have to aim for a different yearbook caption."

Katherine smiled, leaning forward on her elbows as the two other couples began bantering about which yearbook photo they should try out for. She glanced over at Stefan, who caught her eye and returned her grin. "Hey," she said to him in a quiet voice, "I hope this isn't too awkward for you. I know how spending time with a bunch of people you just met can be. If there's something else you'd rather do—"

"Nah," Stefan answered easily, "I kinda like spending time with you and your friends." He paused then added in a lower voice so the others wouldn't overhear, "Especially you."

Katherine fiddled with her napkin underneath the table, covertly shredding it. "I've really liked hanging out with you, too," she admitted, her gaze flickering back up to meet his. "Thanks for coming out with us tonight."

"Thank you for inviting me," Stefan's expression suddenly seemed wary, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Katherine cleared her throat, getting to her feet. "I just have to make a quick phone call, I'll be right back."

"Okay," he agreed, though she could feel his eyes following her as she strode out of the main dining area and towards the pay phones in the hidden hallway by the back of the restaurant.

The minute she was out of sight, she fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed in Elena's number. She didn't know how her twin could help her with this particular situation, but it wasn't like she had anyone else she could talk to.

* * *

_[E]_

"Almost ready?" Rebekah called to Elena from outside the bathroom door, "I can't wait to see how that dress looks on you!"

The truth was, Elena had finished dressing and applying her makeup about ten minutes ago. She just hadn't quite found the courage to enter her room yet. Because going into her room would lead to leaving the house. And leaving the house would lead to arriving at the Lockwood party.

And she _definitely _wasn't ready for that.

"Yeah, almost!" Elena called back to Rebekah over her shoulder, "I'm just...fixing my hair." Her phone buzzed, indicating a phone call, but just as she began to reach for it, Rebekah stuck her head into the door.

"Hurry up," she said impatiently, "I'm all for being fashionably late, but any later and Tyler will be too wasted to notice when we make our grand entrance."

"Grand entrance?" That was alarming enough for Elena to forget about berating her friend for being too nosy, "What are you talking about?"

Rebekah didn't appear to be listening. Instead, she was too busy scrutinizing Elena's appearance. "Is it just me or did you get even skinnier? Jeez, Kat, did you eat _anything _while you were over in Boston for the summer?"

"Yes," Elena snapped, grabbing her coat and hastily buttoning it. This was the second time someone had brought up the fact that she looked thinner (Isobel had been the first). Perhaps she shouldn't have chosen such a figure-hugging dress to wear...

"Alright, alright, no need to get pissed off," Rebekah rolled her eyes, "You look hot, and you know it. Mason is gonna go crazy when he sees you." She followed Elena down the stairs, adding, "Have you spoken to him since you found out he was back in town?"

"Everyone keeps asking me that," Elena answered tightly, "And no, I have not. I was planning on just seeing him at the party tonight. I wouldn't have known what to say to him over the phone anyway."

"Yeah, those phone calls can always be awkward," Rebekah agreed with her quickly, and Elena was struck by how much this girl wanted to be _liked_. Sure, she seemed to act like nothing bothered her, but her aim-to-please attitude told a different story.

"Are you sure you want to take this limo to the Lockwoods?" Elena asked as they got into the backseat, "I mean, we could always take your car."

Rebekah smirked at her mischievously, "But then you wouldn't have a ride home if I decide to have a little sleepover with Tyler."

Elena blinked, wondering if she had missed something. As far as she'd seen, Tyler was treating Rebekah as little more than an afterthought. "Oh..." she trailed off awkwardly, "Good point."

She winked, "I know I'm not the only one that's gonna end up in bed with a Lockwood tonight, right, Kat?"

Elena gave a very forced laugh, "We'll see."

"Oh wow," Rebekah suddenly nudged her, looking excited. "Aren't you glad you decided to come?"

"Decided?" Elena snorted, "I was under the impression that I didn't have a choice." But she, too, raised an impressed eyebrow as they got out of the limo and looked up at the Lockwoods' mansion. It seemed like the party was already in full swing. Music blared from all directions, lights hung from posts leading to the pool in the back where Elena could see the majority of students had already congregated.

"Pierce!" Tyler called, and she squinted to see a figure waving to her from near the edge of the pool. "What are you waiting for? Get over here!"

"Looks like we're being summoned," Elena said under her breath to Rebekah as they both weaved their way through the drunken crowd to get to the back of the house. "Hey, Ty!" she raised her voice to be heard over the music as they neared the pool, "How's it going?"

Tyler used his arms to raise himself out of the pool, his muscles rippling in the dim light. Elena shot a sidelong glance at Rebekah, who looked transfixed by the sight. "So glad you could make it," Tyler grinned, grabbing Elena's shoulders and kissing her on the lips before she could react. "You too, Bex," he added, though he barely spared her a second look. "Come on, Kat, my brother is inside. I know he's been waiting to see you."

Elena allowed herself to be led into the house by Tyler, though she didn't dare look back to see if Rebekah was following them or not. Maybe she should clue Tyler into the fact that Rebekah had a huge crush on him? Maybe he would deem her worthy enough to pay a _little _more attention to—because right now, the way he was treating "Bex" was downright—

"Katherine Pierce," a deep voice interrupted her thoughts, and Elena laid eyes on a man that could only be described as Tyler's brother. With tanned skin, a sturdy build, and a strong jaw, Elena could see why Katherine would have been attracted to him. Mason Lockwood grinned as he approached her, the maroon T-shirt he was wearing clearly showing off his built physique. "God, I've missed you so much," he said to her, first holding her at arm's length but then embracing her in a hug.

Elena instinctively stiffened, bracing herself for the hardness of his body, but the hug was surprisingly gentle and she found herself relaxing into his arms. She hesitantly raised an arm to return the hug, her fingers clasping into the softness of his shirt. His scent was something musky and spicy and oddly pleasant to her senses. She breathed in deeply as she released him and stepped back, studying the person standing before her. "Mason," she smiled, realizing that she hadn't actually greeted him yet. "How does it feel to be back in the city?"

"Feels good," he said to her, and she became aware of the fact that he hadn't let go of her arm yet. "Especially now that you're here."

Elena shifted uncomfortably, unaccustomed to all the attention that was currently being directed at her. "It's good to see you too," she offered, mainly because those were the words that were expected of her. She belatedly realized that although there had been a lot of people out by the pool, there was quite a big gathering within the house as well. Most of them seemed to be eavesdropping on her conversation.

"Here," Mason held out his arm, "Let me take your coat. It's pretty warm in here because of the fireplace."

"Oh, right," Elena unbuttoned her coat, slightly unnerved to see that her fingers were shaking. He moved to her shoulders to help her pull the coat off, and she swallowed when she felt the backs of his knuckles brush against her skin. "Thank you," she said to him, quickly turning around so that she was facing him again. Too late, she remembered what she was wearing.

"Wow," Tyler whistled from behind her, "Kat, you look HOT."

"Sorry about my brother," Mason chuckled, gesturing for Elena to follow him out of the room. "He's already had a lot to drink, which I'm sure is pretty obvious to you and the rest of the world at this point."

"Yeah, I think him kissing me when I got here made it pretty obvious," she commented, covertly eying Mason to see what his reaction would be. To her surprise, he laughed, not looking in the least bit perturbed.

"Yeah, he gets pretty horny when he starts hitting the vodka, don't mind him," Mason smirked at her, "He's harmless."

Elena stopped just outside the bedroom they had reached, which was at the far end of the house. She stood by the door, letting Mason go in front of her and turn on the lights within the room. Her gaze landed on the huge pile of coats lying on the bed, but Mason went to the closet where only a few jackets were hanging and placed her coat on a hanger in there. "Do I get special treatment?"

"Of course," Mason looked puzzled as he closed the closet door and turned back around to face her, "Always." She looked away at his words, but he quickly crossed the room. "Kat, look at me." When she reluctantly met his gaze, he instantly cupped her face within his hands. "I meant what I said out there," Mason peered at her searchingly, "I missed you. So much."

"It's been a long time," Elena hedged, backing away from him. She caught the flash of disappointment that crossed his features, but before she could explain herself further, a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

"Well, well. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Damon," Elena whirled around, her eyes widening when she saw him standing there. She'd known he had been invited, but he'd been largely avoiding her after the dinner party at her house earlier in the week. And she didn't think he'd seemed all that eager to see Mason again, anyway.

"Damon Salvatore," Mason didn't make any move to come forward to do one of those guy handshake/slap on the back rituals that Elena had been expecting him to do. "Tyler told me you were back at school. Still haven't graduated, huh? Well, I guess it helps that your daddy has the business all ready for you to step your pretty little feet into."

Elena winced, crossing her arms and looking away from the stand-off that was quickly escalating in front of her.

"What can I say?" Damon leaned casually against the wall, his mouth curling in a sneer. "I guess I just like to keep at something till I get it right. Which is more than I can say for you...what's the story your daddy is telling around town? Oh that's right, 'taking a year off college.' How very political of him."

"But that is what he's doing," Elena frowned, getting involved against her own better judgement. She turned to look at Mason, "Aren't you?"

"Don't listen to anything he says, Katherine," Mason said tersely, and she could see the muscle ticking in his jaw. "He'll say anything to—"

"To what?" Damon challenged, his eyes flickering with barely concealed disdain. "Don't be so naive, Kat. Your boy here got himself kicked out of college, isn't that right, _Mason?"_

Elena's first instinct was to think that Damon was making up stories to save face, but one look at Mason's expression put her theory to rest. The anger mixed with panic was evident; the face of a guilty man.

"What?" Her eyes widened, "Mason, what did you do?"

There was silence for a few moments as Mason and Damon stared each other down, until Mason blinked and looked away. "Nothing," he said to Elena, his voice strained. "I didn't get kicked out. I'm taking a year off, just like I said." He walked out of the room, taking particular care to shove against Damon's shoulder as he strode past. "Come on, Kat, I'll get you a drink."

"In a minute," Elena called after him, "I just have to get my phone from my coat first. I'll meet you out there."

Mason turned around halfway down the hallway to look back at her, his gaze flicking from her to Damon. "Fine," he said, the tone of his voice becoming vaguely threatening. "I'll get your drink ready."

Elena waited till he had disappeared before going to the closet on the pretense of checking her jacket. Even without looking, she knew Damon had not moved. "So," she asked casually, "When did you get here?"

"A while ago," Damon answered, pushing himself off the wall and following her into the room. "I saw you get here with Rebekah," he added in an offhand voice. "I was by the pool."

Elena frowned, "I didn't see you."

"Yeah, well, you were probably too busy kissing Lockwood to notice anyone else." She spun around, ready to defend herself, but she saw Damon was grinning. "Calm down," he laughed, holding both hands up. "I saw you push him away. Tyler can be a little_ touchy-feely _when he's drunk." Damon paused, "Good news for your friend, though."

"Rebekah?"

"Yeah, he'll definitely sleep with her tonight. I'm guessing that's what she's after since I last saw her throwing herself at him in the pool."

Elena did her best not to look disgusted, though she wasn't sure she had succeeded.

"So," Damon prompted, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He shrugged off his leather jacket, adding it to the bottom of the large pile of coats. "How did it feel to see Mason again?"

"Pretty much the same as seeing you again," Elena answered honestly before she had time to really think about the question. "It felt like it had been a long time and that a lot of things had changed."

Damon tilted his head at her, considering her words. "I'm surprised, you know. That you didn't take that ample opportunity you just had with Mason to try and make me jealous."

"Why would I do that?"

He stood up abruptly, his expression becoming serious. "Because that's what Katherine Pierce would do."

"What are you—"

Damon strode towards her in one move, grabbing her wrist and pushing her further into the closet. She sputtered indignantly as he maneuvered himself in after her and slammed the doors shut. Elena huffed as she swatted several jackets aside (the closet was actually quite large) until she could see his dim outline in the darkness. "What the hell?" she hissed at him, "Damon, you can't just—"

"What did we do the last time we were in a closet?" Damon suddenly asked her, taking a step forward so she could see him better. Even so, the most she could do was feel his body heat to gauge how far away (or in this case, how close together) they were standing.

"What kind of question is that?" Elena demanded, "I don't know what you're—"

"You don't remember?" Damon sounded disbelieving, "Really?"

Elena's palms felt sweaty, her throat dry, and she could feel the blood rushing into her cheeks as her face began to feel hot. "I can't breathe," she gasped out, her hands frantically trying to find the door handle. "How do you open this thing?"

"You're having a panic attack," Damon sounded oddly calm, given the situation. "Take a deep breath and relax."

"No, I need—" Elena brushed errant strands of hair out of her face in frustration, "I need to get out of here!"

"Calm. Down," Damon appeared inches away from her, his eyes glittering. "I know pretending to be Katherine Pierce is taking its toll on you, but you really do need to calm down. Whoever you are."

With that, he reached out and slid the door handle open, letting them both out. Elena stumbled back out into the bedroom, where someone must've turned out the lights because they were once again standing in darkness. She hardly noticed, though, because she was sincerely hoping that she had misheard his last sentence. "Wh-what did you just say?"

"You're not Katherine," Damon enunciated, abruptly reaching out to touch her shoulder and making a show of looking her up and down. "You do a hell of a job pulling her off, though." He closed the gap between them, his hand sliding down to her waist as he hauled her closer. "Very convincing," he murmured into her ear, his lips just brushing against her cheek. "You almost fooled even me."

"I d-don't know what you're talking about," Elena stammered, but Damon only chuckled as he placed one finger under her chin and tipped her head up slightly so that she was forced to look at him.

"I think you do," he told her, his gaze darting between her eyes and her mouth. "But I can offer you further proof, if you'd like." Their breaths mingled as he bent his head towards hers, their lips lingering mere millimeters apart.

Elena could feel the pulse point in her throat thudding loudly and she _knew _the whole plan was falling apart right before her eyes, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. But that didn't stop her from breathing out, "Then prove it."

* * *

_*for more D/E holiday goodness, be sure to check out my new xmas oneshots written for the A2A exchange! They're all under my new fic "Secret Santa Redux." _


	8. That was Then, This is Now

**A/N: **Hope you all had a good holiday! sorry for the long wait, enjoy!

* * *

_[K]  
_

"I'm surprised you decided to do that midnight movie with us, Elena," Bonnie commented as they all walked out of the movie theater, "What happened to your dad's curfew?"

Katherine's smile faltered, but she quickly shook it off. "My dad's been working like _way _overtime at the station," she answered breezily, "I'm sure he won't even be home yet."

Caroline shot her a worried look, "You sure about that? My mom says he's never actually pulled an all-nighter at work before, even when some of the other cops have."

Stefan slid an arm around Katherine's shoulders and pulled her closer to him, squeezing her arm gently. "That's because he brings all of his work home with him—at least, from what I've seen."

Caroline stopped walking abruptly, causing Matt to bump into her. "You've been inside her house!?"

Matt hurriedly linked arms with her, flashing Stefan an apologetic look. "Don't mind her, she's just a little tipsy. She tends to blurt things out without thinking them through when she's...well, actually, I think she does that when she's sober, too..."

Bonnie snorted, rolling her eyes at Katherine. "Don't worry, Stefan. It's just that the three of us have known each other forever. We tend to make each other's lives our business, whether it is or isn't."

Stefan held up both hands, grinning. "I get it, trust me, I do."

Katherine glanced at him curiously, "Do you have some friends back home who act the same way?"

Stefan hesitated before shaking his head, "Actually, I meant my older brother, Damon. He's always made it a point to nose his way into my business, even if I don't want him to."

Luka eyed him, "Well, then you must be glad he's so far away now. He can't interfere in your life while you're here in Mystic Falls and he's all the way in New York."

"Yeah," Stefan nodded, tightening his arm around Katherine as they walked back to his car, "That's true."

* * *

_[E]_

Damon smirked, and Elena's breath stuttered as he brushed his lips over hers once, with the barest of touches. Before she could even contemplate what was happening, he was already stepping away from her. "I could kiss you to prove a point," he told her, his eyes darting to her mouth once again, "But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's exactly what you want me to do."

Elena blinked, taking a deep breath and attempting to gather her bearings. Damon was right. She was standing there—probably looking like a total fool—waiting for him to kiss her. That was decidedly something that Katherine would _not _do, and was probably one of the many reasons that Damon thought he had her all figured out.

Her shoulders slumped forward slightly. This was all her fault. Katherine was _so_ going to kill her for ruining the plan.

"Hey," Damon's sharp voice interrupted her musings, and she looked up reluctantly. "What's your name?"

Elena sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Katherine," she offered dully, "Katherine Pierce."

He didn't move, didn't even blink. "Try again," Damon ordered, though his voice became significantly softer. When she met his gaze, she was surprised to see that he didn't seem particularly angry. Instead, he merely looked expectant. "Does anyone else here know who you are?"

Elena didn't say anything, but the expression on her face was all the confirmation that he needed.

"That's what I thought," Damon moved towards her cautiously, "There's no one here that you can confide in, no one here to help you." He laid his hands on her shoulders gently then, "Why don't you let me in on your secret?"

The offer was tempting. Elena gazed at him, trying to discern the sincerity of his words. She was tired of trying to figure everything out on her own, she was tired of trying to outsmart Damon, she was just...tired.

"Elena," she responded slowly, "It's Elena Gilbert."

...

"I'm sorry we had to leave the party early," Elena said as Damon led her into his house. "I know you've been looking forward to it."

He briefly glanced at her over his shoulder, looking confused. "What gave you that impression?"

"I just..." Elena trailed off, "That's what it seemed like."

"Don't get me wrong," Damon answered offhandedly as they walked upstairs, "I love a good party. Just not the ones where Mason Lockwood is in attendance. Or the host, as it were."

"Right...because he was Katherine's boyfriend." Elena said it as a statement, but still found herself feeling irritated when he didn't contradict her.

Damon gestured for her to follow him into his room before shutting the door and locking it behind them. "Have a seat," he offered, noticing her slightly nervous demeanor. "Relax, Elena. I'm not a serial murderer. You can trust me."

"No, I know," she agreed hastily, avoiding his gaze as she took a seat in a large chair in the far corner of the room. "This is just all pretty weird for me."

Damon shot her a disbelieving look, "This is weird for _you_? What about for me? The last time someone who looked like you was in my bedroom, we—" He broke off, looking down at the ground with a frown. "Never mind. Let's just say it was under different circumstances."

Elena shifted, feeling the tension rise in the room. "I'm sorry," she blurted out, "For tricking you...or trying to trick you, I mean...I guess it didn't really work, did it?"

He took a deep breath, folding his hands together as he took a seat on the bed across from her. "I wouldn't have figured you out if I didn't know you—_her—_so well." When she didn't respond, he leaned forward. "So you were serious? No one else here knows?"

"No one knows at all, except for me and Katherine," Elena mindlessly played with strands of her hair, curling it around one of her fingers and letting the ringlets bounce back and forth." Then she sighed and added unnecessarily, "And now you, of course."

"Start at the beginning, Elena," Damon said suddenly, "How did you two meet?"

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

Hayley laughed when Elena answered the door, purse in hand. "Girl, please don't tell me _that's _what you're planning on wearing to the bars tonight?"

Elena's brow furrowed as she looked down at her outfit (jeans, flats, and a loose-fitting pink top). "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Oh god, you really are hopeless, aren't you?" Hayley sighed, pushing the door open further so that she could step into Elena's dorm room. "Don't get me wrong, everyone digs the whole small-town-girl thing, but we're in the _city_ now! You don't want to act like you've never been bar-hopping before—speaking of which, have you?"

"They don't have under-21 clubs where I'm from," Elena mumbled, scratching her neck in embarrassment as Hayley began rifling through her closet. "You know, this is why I said I didn't even want to go out tonight, Hales. It's not really my thing."

Her new friend spun around, placing one hand on her hip indignantly. "We are graduating this year, Elena," she threw her hands into the air, "Do you understand what that means?"

Elena shook her head wordlessly, feeling extremely out of her depth.

"We're going to be adults, like actual grown-ups out there in the real world," Hayley pointed out the dorm window for emphasis, "It doesn't matter what tiny town or big city you grew up in, because none of us know where we're gonna end up." She turned her attention back to the closet and flipped through the last of the clothes dismissively. "Nothing you have here is going to work," she announced, "I think we need to make a little pit stop at my room."

...

"I don't know how I feel about this, Hayley," Elena gripped her friend's wrist as she carefully (and painfully) walked down the cobbled sidewalk in high heels. "This isn't really my style."

"That's the whole point," Hayley smiled proudly at the outfit she had created for Elena. "You're in Boston for the summer, no parents, no one that you know, and no supervision. You can finally let loose for a bit!"

"I didn't come here to let loose," Elena grumbled, wincing as her toes appeared to go numb with pain. "I came here to take stupid summer classes that would look good on my stupid resume._"_

Hayley smiled indulgently, but didn't slow down the pace. "No pain, no gain, Elena."

"That's what they say on those dumb makeover shows, isn't it?" Elena eyed her friend suspiciously, "Am I like a little makeover project to you?"

"No," Hayley said firmly, pausing so that she could turn and look at her friend. "Listen to me. We are here to have fun, understand? It's Friday night, and you look HOT. You're gonna dance and flirt, and have a blast. Okay?"

"Fine," Elena let herself be dragged along, "If you say so."

...

A couple hours later, and Elena was unexpected to find that she actually _was _having a good time. To her surprise, Hayley stayed close by her side inside the club. Even on the dance floor, she made sure that Elena was never out of her sight, often pulling her along and ignoring the guys that were attempting to dance with her on their own.

"Having fun yet?" Hayley yelled into her ear, grinning when she pulled back and saw Elena's flushed face. "I knew you would...Even the quiet ones have an inner party girl just _waiting _to be released into the wild."

Elena laughed, reaching out to give Hayley a quick hug. "Thank you," she said honestly, "I thought you might ditch me when we got in here for a hot guy or something, but you've been such a good friend to me tonight—there's no way I could've done this without you."

"Ditch you?" Hayley shook her head firmly, her hair flying around her shoulders. "I would never do that to a friend. Especially not on your first club experience. Don't worry, Elena, I got your back."

Someone grabbed her arm at that moment, and Elena spun around to see an angry blonde in her face. "You little slut," the woman spat, shoving her backwards and sending her stumbling into Hayley. "You think you could just sleep with my boyfriend and I'd never find out about it!?"

Elena's mouth dropped open, "Wh-what? No! There must be some mistake—"

"JULES! Stop it! Get back here," another voice called through the crowd, and the blonde momentarily turned her head in that direction. Elena thought this provided an ample opportunity to get the hell out of there, but Hayley seemed to have other ideas.

"You stupid bitch," she shouted, running forward and tackling Jules to the ground. "You have no idea who you're messing with! How dare you—"

"Hales!" Elena frantically pulled on her friend's arm, "Let's get out of here!"

"There he is," Jules screeched as someone else suddenly entered the scene, "Brady, there's your stupid whore!"

Brady turned to look at Elena, his eyes wild, "Katherine, I swear, I didn't—"

Elena held up a hand, "Wait, who the hell is Katherine?"

_END FLASHBACK_

* * *

Damon was staring at her, "I don't know whether to laugh or..." He shook his head, "Typical Kat, huh?" He looked away from her, rubbing a spot on his bed spread and muttering under his breath, "Some things never change."

Elena bit her lip, recognizing the disappointment in his tone. "You can't have thought that she was going to wait for you to come back to New York. She's not that type of girl, even I know that."

"I never asked her to wait for me," he said quickly, "I'm not...that's not what I meant."

She studied his expression for a second. "I'm sorry," she offered quietly, "That she's not who you wanted her to be." When he looked up at her, she swallowed thickly. "And I'm sorry for all the games. It seems so juvenile now."

"You don't have to apologize," Damon gave a casual shrug, and Elena could almost see his mask slipping back into place. "Not your fault." Then he nodded at her, "Go on. What happened when you two met?"

Elena twisted her hands in her lap, thinking back to that night. "We put the pieces together pretty quickly about what had happened 18 years ago. Then, well, Katherine came up with this plan."

"To trade places," Damon stated when she didn't continue, "Why?"

She looked up with a frown, "What?"

"Why did she want to switch places? Is there some master scheme behind this plan? Are you planning on getting your parents back together?"

Elena opened her mouth then shut it, trying to figure out how much she should tell him. Damon blew out a gust of air, sounding annoyed. "Come on, Elena. You've told me everything else. Why keep this a secret?"

"I haven't told you everything," she pressed her lips together, "For example, I haven't told you what Katherine has been up to, living my life in Mystic Falls." She paused for dramatic effect, "With your brother."

Damon immediately straightened, his eyes widening. "Katherine is with Stefan? They're...they're in the same place? They know each other?"

"They're in a lot of the same classes together," Elena informed him, "And I think they've gotten really close."

He stiffened, tilting his head at her, "How close?"

Elena crossed her arms, less than pleased to see the expression on his face. "Don't tell me you're jealous, Damon."

"So it's true?" He demanded, standing up and making his way across the room towards her. "They're dating?"

"That's what it seems like," she stared up at him defiantly, "I understand why my father wouldn't happy about it, but why do you look so pissed?"

Damon clenched his jaw, looking like he was attempting to control his anger. "I'm not upset, I'm just...I wasn't expecting that."

Elena shook her head once, looking down to avoid his gaze.

He suddenly reached out to grab her wrist, "I'm not jealous, okay?"

"Whatever, Damon." She snatched her arm out of his grasp, getting to her feet. "I think I should go now."

"Elena, wait," he called after her, but she didn't stop to listen to him. She hurried down the stairs, and only remembered at the last second that Damon had driven her to his house. And—Rebekah, _damn it!_ She was still at the Lockwoods...Elena ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She couldn't just _leave _Bex at that house, not unless she was sure that Tyler would be taking care of her. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath, "Now what?"

"Elena."

She groaned, turning around to face Damon, who was standing halfway down the stairs. "Not now, okay? I'm just going to call Trevor, and he'll come pick me up in a few minutes."

"Trevor?"

"My limo driver."

"I can drive you home, you know," Damon slowly walked down the final few stairs, "I haven't been drinking."

"I'm not going home," Elena turned away from him so that she wouldn't have to stare into those probing blue eyes anymore. "I have to go back to the Lockwoods."

Even though she wasn't facing him, she still felt the room suddenly become about ten degrees colder. "Why the hell do you have to go back there?" Damon snapped, "Have to pay your respects to the horny hosts?"

In spite of herself, she felt her lips tug upwards into a smile. "No," she unsuccessfully tried to hide her laugh, and shook her head. "I have to go back for Rebekah, make sure that she's all right."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her, "I'm sure she's with Tyler by now. She won't even have noticed you're gone."

"I just want to make sure that she doesn't need a ride home," Elena began dialing Trevor's number on her cell phone, "Then I'll head home, too. Don't worry, Damon. I'll be fine."

He moved towards her, covering her hand with his before she could press the 'talk' button. "Rebekah wouldn't have done the same for you. Once she finds a guy who'll pay attention to her, she doesn't give a second thought to any of her so-called friends."

"I figured as much," Elena said plainly, "And I think that's really sad for her." Then she glanced up at Damon, "Luckily, I'm not one of those girls. And I will check on Rebekah no matter what kind of friend she was or wasn't to Katherine."

Damon let go of her hand and eyed her with renewed interest, "You know, Elena Gilbert, I think I just might like you." She blinked, taken aback. Before she could find the presence of mind to form a reply, he was taking her arm and gesturing for her to follow him outside. "Come on, I'll drive you back to the Lockwoods. I wouldn't want you to head back into the lion's den on your own."

Elena smiled, allowing him to lead her back to his car. "Thanks, Damon."

"Anytime."

* * *

_*One of my guest reviewers has informed me that there is a new fanfic out there called "The Switch" that is pretty similar to this one. Thank you for letting me know!_


	9. Getting Even

**A/N: **thank you to all the PMs, reviews, tweets, etc. from everyone telling me that they missed reading this fic! Sorry for the long wait, life has been crazy. Hope you enjoy the latest installment!

* * *

_[K]_

Stefan pulled to a stop in front of her house, and swiftly killed the engine. Before Katherine could ask him what he was doing, he had turned to her and slid an arm around her shoulders so that the palm of his hand was resting gently on her neck. "I had a really great time tonight, Elena."

Katherine answered with a flicker of a smile, though she couldn't quite bring herself to meet his gaze. She settled on staring down at her hands as she fiddled with a ring on her finger. "Me too," she responded quietly, "Thanks for coming out with us. We should…do it again sometime."

She had meant to phrase her last statement confidently, but it came out sounding as more of a question and she inwardly winced. To her relief, however, she saw Stefan nod in agreement from the corner of her eye.

A second later, the pressure on her neck abruptly disappeared and she looked up just in time to see Stefan remove his hand and turn sideways to open his door. She tried to ignore the flash of disappointment she felt as he called over his shoulder, "Come on, I'll walk you to your door."

Katherine slowly unbuckled her seatbelt, trying to smile when he came to the passenger side of the car so that he could open the door for her. "Such a gentleman," she said to him, allowing him to take her hand so that he could help her out of the car. "Thank you."

"And thank you for making my first week in Mystic Falls far more bearable than I thought it was going to be," Stefan shot her a half grin as they climbed up the porch steps. "I was pretty much dreading being the new kid, especially with all the newspapers and tabloids screaming the Salvatore name for everyone to see." They stopped just short of her front door and he turned to face her, taking both of her hands within his. "You've made me feel almost normal again, and I…wanted to thank you for that."

"You're welcome," Katherine felt her face become warm under the sincerity blazing in his eyes. "I should probably get inside, in case my dad is waiting up for me."

Stefan glanced at the darkened windows of the house, but then looked down at his watch and nodded quickly, "Yeah, it's getting pretty late." But he didn't let go of her hands just yet. "Have a good night, Elena," he hesitated, "I'll see you on Monday?"

Katherine could feel the slow thud of her pulse begin to accelerate with anticipation. "Yeah," she whispered, "Monday." Stefan slowly let go of her hands, but he let his fingers linger on her coat sleeve, stroking her arm almost absentmindedly.

When she met his gaze, he looked oddly conflicted about something. Just as she opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, his fingers suddenly tightened on her sleeve and he tugged her forward, drawing her into his arms. The startled gasp never left her throat as his mouth closed over hers softly. Katherine let her eyes flutter shut, enjoying the feel of his lips against hers. He didn't deepen the kiss, however, keeping it surprisingly sweet and chaste.

After several moments, he pulled away and Katherine blissfully opened her eyes to see him standing inches away from her, his lips curved into a small smile. "Good night, Elena."

"Good night," Katherine watched him go, touching a finger to her lips with a smile of her own. After he had driven away, she quietly unlocked the door and stepped into the hallway. As she fumbled around for the light switch, the lamp in the living room suddenly flipped on.

She dropped her handbag in shock, her hand flying to her chest to still her wildly beating heart. "Dad!? You almost gave me a heart attack! What on earth are you doing?"

John Gilbert was sitting in the armchair, glaring at her. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"No," Katherine snapped, "What the hell is—"

"Be quiet," he hissed, the venom in his voice effectively silencing her protests. "The better question is, what the hell were _you _doing with Stefan Salvatore after I specifically told you to stay away from him?"

* * *

_[E]_

"Why are you parking all the way out here?" Elena asked in surprise as Damon pulled his car to a stop more than a block away from the Lockwoods' residence. "You do realize I'm wearing heels, right?"

Damon snorted under his breath, glancing over at her with amusement. "Careful now, I might just start thinking you're more like Katherine than you initially let on."

She frowned in puzzlement as she stepped out of the car, "What do you mean?"

"That's something she would say," Damon tilted his head at her, "In exactly that tone of voice, too. It's uncanny, really."

"Very funny," Elena flipped up the collar of her coat and buttoned the top of it as she fell into step beside Damon, "You didn't answer my question."

"I don't want any drunk kids trashing it," he replied, pulling out his cell phone to show her the time. "Lockwood parties tend to get a little out of hand at this point in the night."

Elena rubbed her arms against the chill of the night air, her brow furrowing as she thought about Damon's answer. "I don't get it, though. His dad is the mayor; how does Tyler get away with throwing these kinds of parties? Wouldn't the press be all over it?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Mayor Lockwood has deals with a lot of people who control this city. No one crosses him and gets away with it. That's just how it works."

"Oh."

He looked over at her then, and casually slid his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to his side. "I guess it doesn't get this cold down in Virgina?"

"It's the dress I'm wearing," Elena unthinkingly slid her left arm around his waist in response, "The jacket isn't helping."

She felt Damon tense under her touch momentarily, and she was just about to pull away when she felt his arm tighten around her shoulders. "Sorry," he said quickly in answer to the hurt look on her face. "I just have to keep reminding myself that you're not Katherine."

If that was supposed to make her feel better, it had the opposite effect. "What is that supposed to mean?" Elena demanded, coming to a stop in the middle of the street. Damon groaned, letting go of her as she spun around to face him. "I get that you and Kat aren't exactly on the best of terms, but you're the one that said I've been acting nothing like her so I don't see what the sudden problem is!"

"Nothing," he raked his fingers through his hair, looking frustrated. "It's nothing, Elena, alright? There's no problem. I just..." He heaved a sigh, watching as she placed one hand on her hip, staring at him expectantly. "I just don't know how to act around you anymore."

Elena blinked, confused at this revelation. "What?" she asked, unsure if she'd heard incorrectly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, before...I could act like you _were _Katherine, even if I had my suspicions that you weren't. But now that we've confirmed that you are, in fact, a whole different person...I don't know." Damon shrugged, "How am I supposed to act? We've been getting to know each other under completely false pretenses this past week. I can't pretend that we actually know each other."

She got what he was saying, really she did. But at the same, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "This was _your _idea," she pointed out accusingly, "You were the one that confronted me about not being Katherine! You were the one that said you wanted to help; to know the whole story—"

"Well, that's just it, isn't it?" Damon jabbed his finger into her shoulder, "You haven't told me the whole story, not entirely!"

"I told you more than I should have," Elena grabbed his hand and flung it away from her, "Don't do that again."

"That's not saying much," he grumbled, rubbing his hands in exasperation over his face. "Okay, I'm sorry, alright? I don't want to fight with you. You're right, I said I would help you get through this because there's no one else here that knows the truth. And I meant what I said." Damon moved forward, warily placing his hands on her shoulders. "You can count on me."

Elena pursed her lips, crossing her arms in a defensive stance. "But can I trust you?"

"Yes," he said firmly, letting go of her shoulders and then holding out one of his hands. "Come on, let's get Operation: Save Rebekah out of the way. It's late, and I think we'll both be less inclined to argue in the morning."

She took his hand, albeit reluctantly. Their fingers intertwined, and she bit her lip as her heart twisted accordingly. Against her better judgement, she knew she was falling for him.

She only hoped that he didn't notice.

They neared the Lockwood mansion several minutes later, and Elena was surprised to see that the noise level (and the amount of people) had dropped dramatically from when she and Damon had left earlier in the night. "Looks like the party's almost over," she commented as Damon pulled open the gate so that they could walk in. She squinted at the pool in the distance, but it looked empty. "See anyone out here?"

"Not really," he kicked a beer bottle out of the way as they walked towards the front door. "This place is a mess."

"I'm guessing the Lockwoods have their own clean up crew," Elena responded disinterestedly, to which Damon chortled in response. She looked at him curiously, and he grinned.

"You're getting the hang of this thing," was all he said. "Come on, whoever's left must be inside." The front door had been left ajar, and they both stepped inside. The music was still playing in here, but apart from a small crowd dancing, Elena couldn't see Rebekah or either of the Lockwoods.

"I don't see her, do you?"

Damon's gaze darted around the room, and he shook his head. Tightening his grip on her hand, he led her through several rooms before they ended up back in the main hallway. "Let's check the bedroom at the end," he said, turning to look at the worried expression on her face. "Hey, calm down. We'll find her. Maybe she's getting her coat as we speak."

Elena nodded, quickening her pace as Damon led them to the last bedroom in the hallway. He flipped on the lights, but everything was just as they had left it several hours ago, apart from the coat pile having decreased significantly. "Looks like a lot of people left."

He let go of her hand and nodded towards the bed, "Is Rebekah's jacket there?"

"Um..." she frowned, tossing aside the pile as she searched for it. "I don't think so."

"Maybe she already left?" Damon suggested, though he didn't sound like he believed this theory. "Did you try calling her?"

Elena pulled out her cell phone and put it on speakerphone. She held it out in front of her as they left the bedroom and began wandering back through all the rooms they had just searched. "Wait—" she grabbed Damon's wrist as they passed by the back door of the house, "I think I hear her ringtone."

"Really?" Damon paused by the back door, peering outside. "Well, there's no one out by the pool as far as I can see."

"I hear it," she insisted, pushing him aside so that she could slide the door open. Elena stepped outdoors, her eyes scanning the length of the pool. "You don't hear it?"

He followed her outside and clambered down the steps. "It's coming from over there," he pointed to a tiny flicker of light by the edge of the pool. "I think there's a phone over there."

Elena hurried behind him, jogging to where he had pointed. At the same time, the ringing segued into voicemail and the light they had seen disappeared. "Yeah, this is her phone," she crouched down and picked it up, pressing the unlock feature to see '**1 MISSED CALL: KAT PIERCE.' **Elena ran her hands along the grass, her fingers closing upon something soft. "Her jacket," she murmured, holding it up so Damon could see. "Rebekah must've dropped her jacket here to get into the pool with Tyler, and her phone fell out."

"You think she got into the pool?" Damon asked skeptically, before his face suddenly changed and he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I forgot! Remember, I told you that I saw Bex here with Tyler before I came into the house to find you."

"Was she wearing her dress?" Elena asked, frowning as she walked in a circle around the immediate vicinity. "Because I can't find it here."

"No," he shook his head, "She definitely wasn't wearing her dress in the pool."

"Okay," Elena slung the jacket on her arm, being careful to put Rebekah's phone into one of the pockets. "Let's go back inside. Maybe someone in there knows where she went."

Damon led the way back inside, and when they reached the living room, he grabbed the arm of the first girl that tottered past them. "Hey."

She giggled, swaying as she clutched onto Damon's arm. "Salvatore," she crowed, "What're you doing here?"

"Aimee, have you seen Rebekah?" he demanded, holding onto the girl's arms to keep her steady. "Blonde, about yay-high, British?"

"Yeah..." Aimee trailed off, looking as if the conversation required a great deal of mental ability to continue. "Upstairs, I think."

Elena stepped forward, slightly relieved. "Oh, she's with Tyler?"

"No."

Damon waited, but the girl didn't offer anything else. "So she's by herself? Is that what you're saying?"

"Hmm?" Aimee pouted, becoming distracted as she looked around the room, "Where's my friend?"

"This is useless," Damon hissed under his breath, taking the girl's arm and leading her unceremoniously to the nearest sofa. "Sit," he told her, before turning his attention back to Elena. "Let's check upstairs."

They both hurried up the stairs, with Damon walking ahead and flinging open doors at random. He was just about to open the door at the end of the hall, when it suddenly opened off its own accord and Tyler walked out. He gazed at them sleepily, "What are you two doing here? I thought you left."

"Um," Elena frowned, "You do realize that there are people still downstairs, right?"

Tyler shrugged carelessly, "Let them stay. It doesn't matter." Then he glared at Elena, "You know, Kat, I can't believe you left. My brother was looking forward to seeing you, and you left without even saying bye. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Elena was taken aback. Tyler seemed genuinely upset, though she couldn't tell if it was because he was drunk or if he was just protective of Mason's feelings. "I'm sorry," she stammered, "But something came up, and I had to—"

"Choosing this loser over my brother again, huh?" Tyler sneered, "So much for making him sorry he ever left. God, you're so pathetic."

"Hey," Damon growled, taking a step towards Tyler, "Watch it."

"Or what?" Tyler sneered, getting into Damon's face. "You got something to prove for your girl over there?" He jerked his head in Elena's direction, but didn't take his eyes off of Damon. "We both know how much Katherine Pierce loves to see you fight for her," he cocked his head thoughtfully, "In fact, that's _all _you've ever done, isn't it? Because every single time, you _lose." _

Damon's arm swung out before Elena could even register what was happening, landing squarely on Tyler's jaw and sending him stumbling backwards. "No!" Elena shouted, "Damon, stop it! He's not worth it!"

A door somewhere behind her swung open, but she didn't turn to see who it was until the person entered her field of vision. "Leave my brother alone."

"Mason," Tyler coughed, swiping a hand across his own face and leaving a streak of blood against his cheek. "Go back inside, I can handle this."

Damon turned around, the look on his face murderous. "Mason, just the person I was looking for."

Mason ignored him, and turned to face Elena instead. "I was waiting for you," he informed her coldly, "With that drink that you told me you wanted me to get you." Elena began to speak, but he held up a hand to stop her. "Only, you never came back, did you?" His gaze flicked once in Damon's direction, "You decided to sneak out with this guy. The one who has to fight my little brother because he's too scared to fight against someone his own size."

"He was provoked," Elena answered stiffly, crossing her arms. "And Tyler looks like he can take care of himself."

"I don't need you to defend me, Katherine," Tyler snapped, "In fact, why don't the both of you get the hell out of my—"

"We're looking for Rebekah," Elena interrupted, "As soon as we find her, we'll just be on our way. Where is she?"

Tyler's expression didn't change, "No idea."

But even she didn't miss the subtle glance that Mason and Tyler exchanged over her shoulder. Damon didn't miss it, either. "Listen, Lockwood—"

"For heaven's sake," a familiar voice drawled drunkenly from behind them, "What is all the racket? Can't a girl get some peace and quiet around here?"

"Rebekah!" Elena rushed forward, stopping in confusion when she realized that Mason had just come out of the same room minutes before. "What are you doing in Mason's room?"

Bex struggled to focus on her face for a second, before she suddenly broke out into a grin. "Kat!" she grabbed Elena's arm excitedly, "Didn't I tell you that I'd hook up with a Lockwood tonight?"

"You..." Elena turned around just in time to see Mason and Tyler exchange another glance. "You slept with Mason?"

Rebekah nodded, though her grin faltered at the look on Elena's face. "You're not mad, are you? He told me you left with Damon, so I figured..." She shrugged, "Why not?"

"Yeah," Elena echoed in faint disdain, "Why not." She shook her head and then held out Rebekah's jacket, "Put this on. It's time to go."

"But—"

"Don't listen to them," Mason suddenly seemed to find his voice, and he came forward to wrap an arm around Rebekah's shoulders. "You don't have to leave," he told her as he stared smugly at Elena, "In fact, you can stay as long as you like."

"Bex," Elena crouched slightly so she could look into Rebekah's eyes, "I'm your friend, do you get that? Not these guys. Damon and I are going to take you home now. You don't want to stay here, trust me."

"Alright," Rebekah mumbled, allowing Elena to help her put on her jacket. "Thanks, Kat."

Damon moved forward to help her down the stairs, though he managed to shoot one last menacing look in Mason's direction before they left. "I told you to park closer," Elena complained a few minutes later as they tried to balance Rebekah between them. When he didn't respond, she looked over at him curiously. "Damon?"

He broke out of his reverie, looking startled, "What?"

"What's wrong?"

He hesitated, but then shook his head. "Nothing." He shifted Rebekah's weight so that he could reach into his pocket and get his keys. He clicked the car open, "Let's put her in the backseat. You guys can crash at my place, if you want."

"Oh, I don't..." Elena shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know how Isobel would feel about that."

"We still have a lot to talk about," Damon reminded her as he started the engine, "Come on, Elena."

Rebekah muttered something to herself as her head flopped to the side, bobbing along to the potholes in the road.

"Shh," Elena hissed, "Just because she's drunk doesn't mean that she's not listening."

"Fine," Damon heaved a sigh, "_Katherine_. You owe me."

"Alright," she considered after a second, "I'll stay."

He smiled at her in response, and they drove the rest of the way in silence. Elena's mind was whirling, however, as she tried to decide how much of the secret she was going to tell him. _If he's going to help, then maybe he should just know everything...but if Katherine ever finds out that how much I told him, she'd be furious..._

Elena's musings ground to a halt when she felt the car make a sharp turn, and she looked up to see Damon's driveway looming in front of her. The garage door slid open a second later, and he smoothly pulled into it. "Come on," he gestured to her, "We can put Rebekah in one of the guest rooms."

Together they carried her up the stairs, until they reached the second floor landing. Damon led them down the hallway and pushed open one of the doors on the right, flipping on the lights. Elena staggered forward with Rebekah and gently laid her down on the bed. "Thanks for doing this, Damon," she turned to look at him over her shoulder, "Do you mind bringing up a glass of water and some asprin? We can leave it here for when she wakes up."

"No problem," Damon tapped his fingers alongside the doorway, "But when I get back—"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," Elena promised, smiling as he shot her a 'you better' look before disappearing back downstairs. Elena stood up and adjusted the bed covers, pulling up a sheet to cover Rebekah. "Good night, Bex," she said quietly, and was just about to leave when suddenly Rebekah's hand gripped her wrist.

"Kat?" she mumbled sleepily, "What's going on?"

"Shh, it's okay," Elena said soothingly, "We're at Damon's house. Just sleep, alright? Everything is fine."

"Okay," Bex murmured, seemingly appeased. Her fingers lost their grip on Elena's wrist, and her hand slipped back down to rest on the covers. She muttered something else incoherent, and Elena was just about to leave when Rebekah spoke again.

"Kat?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's Elena?"


	10. The Sun Also Rises

**A/N: **although every chapter has started with Katherine's POV, this one starts with Elena's to flow more easily from last chapter's cliffhanger.

* * *

_[E]_

"Full disclosure?"

Elena hesitated for a second, but then nodded. "Yes, that's what we agreed on."

"Okay," Damon twisted his neck around to look at her, the slight breeze in the early morning air ruffling his hair as he did so. "What did Katherine say to convince you to switch places with her?"

"She wanted to get to know our dad, for one. And I wanted to get to know our mom."

Damon leaned back in the reclining patio chair, chuckling softly. "Ah, but that's the obvious answer, Elena."

"Just because it's obvious, doesn't make it less true."

"I buy that it's _part _of the truth; just not the whole truth."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I might not know you yet very well, but I sure as hell knew Katherine."

"Your point?"

Damon tilted his head, "Getting to know _Daddy _isn't something that she would up and leave her whole life for. There has to be more to it."

"What if there isn't?"

"Then I would know that you're as much a liar as your sister dearest." When Elena only looked at him in puzzlement, he elaborated. "You wouldn't be adhering to our 'full disclosure' agreement."

"You sound like a lawyer."

He raised an eyebrow, then muttered under his breath, "You would know."

"Or the son of a well-spoken businessman," Elena snapped, her good humor vanishing at the implication in his tone. "They're my parents, Damon."

"Yeah? Well your parents happen to hate my dad, so you can see why I might not like them too much."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Excuse me, but your dad is the one who is screwing the justice system over! My parents are just doing their jobs!"

Damon looked surly. "And you're so sure that my dad is in the wrong here, aren't you? That your parents are the white knights in shining armor, ready to defend the poor souls that my father supposedly stole money from."

Elena's hand tightened around the wine bottle they had spent the night drinking together, and her knuckles turned a stark white. "In case you seem to have skipped a few lessons in the morality handbook, _embezzling money _happens to be a criminal offense."

He got to his feet, angrily glaring down at her. "There's more to every story, Elena." There was clearly a double meaning behind his words, referencing their earlier conversation.

As she stared up at him, the sun began to rise in the distance and the sky lightened above them. She raised the nearly empty wine bottle to her lips and tipped it back, swallowing the final few drops. "The sun is rising," she announced unnecessarily, not meeting Damon's gaze as she set the bottle down on the small table beside her and got to her feet unsteadily. "I can't believe we were out here all night," she added, stretching as she looked around the deck. "You have a pretty cool setup here, you know."

With that, she turned around and tried to walk towards the sliding glass door that led back into Damon's room. However, she staggered sideways despite her best efforts, her hips nudging into the corner of the patio chair that she had just been sitting on. She would've sprawled back into it, if Damon hadn't suddenly appeared beside her and grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Whoa," she mumbled, gripping his forearm and righting herself. "That's weird, what's wrong with me?"

The angry look on Damon's face had faded, to be replaced with faint amusement. "I think you're a little drunk."

"I am not. I sound fine, see?"

He nodded indulgently, "Yes, you do sound fine. I just don't think your body has caught up to your mind yet."

Elena looked down at her feet contemplatively, trying to figure out why they wouldn't move in the direction she wanted them to. "I don't feel drunk," she said assertively, to which Damon looked even more amused. "What?"

"Do you realize how loudly you're talking right now?"

"I'm not loud," Elena poked him in the chest indignantly, "_You're _the one being loud!"

"Your comeback skills will never cease to amaze me," Damon deadpanned, taking her by the arm and leading her towards the glass door. "Come on, let's get you inside."

"To your room?"

"Inside," Damon repeated, but she didn't miss the way that his eyes had darted to meet hers for a split second before he looked away almost guiltily. Elena smiled to herself as she stepped into his room, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the change in light from outdoors. "What are you looking so happy about?" Damon asked suspiciously as he turned around to slide the door shut, "It's a little—" He broke off, startled. "Elena, what are you doing?"

She was leaning towards him, leaving barely any room between their bodies as she caged him in with his back against the door. "You want to kiss me," she said with a wide grin, "I can tell."

"What?" Damon tried to grab her shoulders, but she shrugged off his hands, somehow managing to come even closer. "Elena, you're drunk and you don't know what you're saying,"

"I can't be drunk," she stated in a reasonable tone of voice, "We both drank the same amount from that one bottle of wine."

"We didn't drink the same amount," Damon corrected, doing his best to lean away from her. "And there was more than one bottle."

Elena frowned and peered past him, through the glass doors. "I only see one bottle."

Damon sighed, "That would be because I got rid of the other two bottles when I cleaned up last night."

"That's impossible," she narrowed her eyes, "We were both out there all night talking. You never left."

"Actually I did," he softened his voice, recognizing the unhappy expression on her face. "Just to check on Rebekah and make sure she was alright."

Elena didn't say or do anything for almost a full minute, but he could practically see the gears turning her head. "Rebekah," she mumbled, almost to herself. "Right..." Then she blinked and took a tiny step back from him, "That's good you checked on her...I mean, she was pretty out of it last night."

She turned away, but he quickly reached out to touch her elbow. "Elena, wait."

"No, you're right," she didn't turn back to face him, but he could've sworn he heard a quiver in her voice. "You're right, I'm probably a little more drunk than I realized. I s-should take a shower, grab some coffee...check on Bex." She rattled off her list of things to do, still not meeting his gaze. "Thanks for looking out for her."

He let her go, but called quietly after her, "I'm looking out for you, too." Elena came to a halt as she reached his doorway, so he knew that she had heard him. But then she still didn't turn around, and squared her shoulders before striding purposefully down the hallway.

She knocked when she reached the guest room where they had left Rebekah, but frowned when she pushed open the door to find an empty bed. "Bex?" she called loudly, "You in here?"

"Katherine?"

The voice came from her left, and she turned to see another door within the room. "Yeah it's me. Are you alright?"

The door opened a second later, and Rebekah stepped out, wrapped in a green towel. "Just showering off the stench of Lockwood," Bex tried to smile at her, but Elena didn't miss the redness around her eyes. "There's more towels and stuff in there, if you want to—"

"Come here," Elena interrupted, reaching out and pulling Rebekah into her arms for a hug. She thought Bex would resist, but she willingly came forward, resting her head on Elena's shoulder wearily. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," Rebekah answered glumly, her wet hair brushing against the side of Elena's neck. "Really, truly, awful."

"Do you need more asprin?" Elena glanced over at the bedside table to see that the hangover cure that they had left last night was gone. "I can go ask Damon to get you some more."

"I'm not hungover," Rebekah stepped away from Elena and lethargically slumped down onto the bed. "I'm just..." Tears began to fill her eyes, and she hastily looked down. "Sorry. I know you don't want to hear it. Especially after what I did to you last night."

Elena carefully sat down next to her friend, looking over at her calmly. "What did you do to me?"

"Mason was yours first, Kat. And I know I broke the girl code and everything, and I swear I didn't mean it. I w-wasn't thinking, and I knew he was just pissed that you left with Damon but I didn't care...He was being so nice to me while Tyler was ignoring me and I don't know...It just happened."

"Okay," Elena nodded, smiling at Rebekah to show that she wasn't holding anything against her. "Don't worry about it, I'm not mad at you. If there's anyone to blame here, it's Mason. He knew what he was doing."

Rebekah scoffed self deprecatingly, "Taking advantage of the poor, insecure blonde. God, I'm such a cliché, aren't I, Kat?"

"I think we all are, a little bit," Elena answered, looking up as there was a knock on the door. Damon was standing there, holding a bottle of asprin and another glass of water.

Bex broke out into a smile as soon as she saw him, her mask falling into place faster than Elena could blink. "Well, aren't you a mind reader, Damon Salvatore? We were just talking about getting our hands on something to get rid of this infernal pounding in my head."

"I thought it might come in use," Damon hesitantly entered the room and carefully laid the items down on the table. "There's coffee brewing downstairs, and breakfast should be ready soon. Oh, and I laid some sweats out on my bed, if you want to change into those?"

Rebekah gaped up at him, "That actually sounds perfect, thank you."

He stepped aside to let her pass, pointing down the hallway, "Just walk all the way down, it's the last door."

Elena dutifully swallowed two pills and gulped down the entire glass of water, suddenly realizing just how thirsty she was. "Thanks," she muttered when she was done, noticing that he was still standing there. She gestured with her head to the right, "I guess I'll just..."

Damon heaved a loud sigh, and she finally looked up at him to see what his problem was. He was staring at her with a frustrated look on his face. "You're not wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"Just because I want to do something, doesn't mean that I _should. _And just because you think that I'm devoid of moral principles, doesn't mean that I am."

Elena got to her feet, shaking her head. "I'm glad we got that cleared up." Then she strode into the bathroom and firmly shut the door behind her. The spray of hot water against her face was refreshing, and she spent the next ten minutes methodically scrubbing away the memories associated from the night before and the early morning. The body wash that Damon had left in the shower had a pleasing, musky scent_—almost like he does, _an unbidden voice reminded her from the back of her head.

She sighed, massaging shampoo into her hair. _I can't believe we spent almost the whole night talking...he's so easy to talk to, and he's so caring, and...Stop it! _Elena groaned, covering her face. She liked him too much. Now he was in her head, and there was nothing she could do about it. She quickly rinsed out her hair, suddenly desperate to get out of his house and go back home so that she could talk to Katherine without any interruptions. She needed advice. Badly.

However, when she stepped out of the bathroom, she was shocked to see Damon sitting on the bed, clearly waiting for her. "Wh-what are you doing?" Elena stammered, covertly tightening the blue towel around her chest. "Why are you waiting here?"

He got to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Have you sobered up?" Damon demanded, peering at her unnervingly, "Well?"

"Yes," Elena tapped her foot nervously, "Listen, Damon—" Her words were cut off when he abruptly took a single stride towards her. Then his lips were suddenly covering hers, and all subsequent thought left her mind completely, leaving a pleasant buzzing in her ears. Elena was only aware of his hands cradling her face, and his mouth moving against hers almost desperately. She clutched onto shoulders when he deepened the kiss, and curved her body into his, unconsciously wanting them to be as close as possible.

His skin felt hot against hers as he moved one hand down to her bare shoulder, seeming to caress it for a second. Her body tingled in response, sending heat shooting straight into her core. She unintentionally gasped into his mouth, and his tongue slid past her lips. entangling with hers. His hands moved down her back, causing the towel to loosen between them. Elena paid no attention, however, too lost in the haze steadily building around her. She moaned when he dragged his lips away from hers, but her protests were silenced as he kissed a path down the slender column of her throat, his mouth lingering over her pulse point.

"Damon," her voice trembled with need and he immediately covered her mouth with his again. She began backing up, pulling on his shirt to make him follow her. Their lips never broke apart, even when she fell backwards onto the bed. She tugged on the hem of shirt, and Damon groaned into her mouth when he realized what she had in mind.

"Elena," he fought for breath as he pulled back slightly so that he could look at her, "What are we doing?"

Her heart was thundering in her ears, "I thought it was obvious."

He cracked a grin before burying his face into the crook of her neck, still breathing heavily. "Geez, Gilbert, you're going to be the death of me."

It was the first time he'd ever called her anything other than 'Elena' or some form of 'Katherine' and she stilled, the endearment causing an odd soaring sensation in her heart.

"Elena?" He suddenly looked worried that he had hurt her somehow. "What's wrong? I was kidding—"

"I know," she said quickly, pink tinging her cheeks. "I just...I liked hearing you call me that," she admitted. "It sounded good."

Damon blinked, looking unsure. Then he studied her expression and lowered his head, giving her a long, lingering kiss. "Alright, Gilbert," he said briskly, rolling off her and getting to his feet. "I'm gonna go downstairs before Rebekah comes up here, wondering what we're up to." When she didn't move, he reached out to grab her arm and pull her to a standing position. Once she was on her feet, he darted forward and pecked her on the lips. "I'll see you downstairs?"

Elena smiled, "Yeah, I'll see you down there."

* * *

_[K]_

When Katherine awoke the next morning, she stayed completely silent, listening for sounds in the house. After her confrontation with John the previous night, she was sincerely hoping that he'd taken off to work early. Although she didn't hear anything in the immediate vicinity, she still tip-toed to the door and cautiously pulled it open. Then she padded down the hallway until she was at the top of the stairs. She held her breath for a few seconds, but there wasn't a single sound in the house.

She breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to her room, no longer taking care to be silent. Her bag was lying on the ground near her bed and she knelt down to rummage through it, looking for her phone. When she eventually located it, she was surprised to see several texts waiting for her, as well as a missed call from Elena.

Katherine scrolled through the texts first; all from either Caroline or Bonnie, asking her how the rest of her night with Stefan had gone. Deciding to reply later, she called Elena back. To her surprise, Elena picked up on the first ring.

"Hey twin," Katherine said cheerfully into the phone, "You called?"

"Yeah," Elena sounded evasive, "I'm sorry about missing your call from last night. I didn't see it until later, and then there were a few...complications...and, well, one thing led to another—"

"Phone call?" Katherine frowned, thinking back. Then she snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah, last night! I was on a date with Stefan, and I needed your advice."

"_Me?" _She sounded incredulous, "I don't see how I could've possibly helped. I'm the last person to be doling out advice to anyone."

Katherine's brow furrowed, "You sound off. What happened?"

"You first," Elena shifted, "How was your date?"

Katherine paused, closing her eyes and touching her lips. "It was...pretty amazing," she said dreamily, "I think I really like him, Elena. And I know I'm not supposed to; false pretenses and all that, but he's just such a sweet guy—like no one I've ever dated."

"Damon can be sweet."

Elena sounded defensive, and Katherine immediately tensed. "What are you talking about?"

"Okay, um, so last night..." she trailed off, "Bex dragged me to that Lockwood party, and, well Mason was there. At first it didn't seem too bad, we got off to a good start. But then Damon showed up and the two of them sort of had this argument." Elena coughed uncomfortably, "Long story short, I ended up leaving with Damon to go back to his place to talk about...stuff. Um, but then we went back to get Rebekah because I was worried about her."

There was a long pause.

Katherine paced back and forth, "Elena, you are giving me anxiety problems here, would you please finish the story?"

"Rebekah slept with Mason," her sister said in a rush, "And also, Damon knows who I am."

* * *

_*once again, thank you for all the awesome reviews! and on another note, I've really started to like TVD again (this past Thursday's episode- absolutely loved it!) If they keep up to this level, I will definitely be inspired to write a canon fic this summer, as per tradition ;)_

_p.s. fixed the Kat/Elena name mix up- thanks to darkangel and dark-super-angel for letting me know!  
_


	11. Star Crossed Lovers

**A/N:** just wanted to let you guys know that i haven't forgotten about this fic! lately I've been into writing my post-S4 canon fic ("Out of Sight") because the TVD finale really did end with a lot of potentially interesting storylines ;) anyway, this chapter picks up right after the previous chapter's cliffhanger. enjoy!

* * *

_[K]_

Katherine wondered if she was having a nightmare. There was really no other possible way that this was happening. Not now, not after everything they had done to pull off the plan. She felt her chest quickening, and she clutched onto the table in front of her, hoping she wasn't about to pass out.

"Kat?"

She took a deep breath, desperately trying to force more air into her lungs. She was _so _going to kill Elena. She had told her not to talk to Damon, she had told her to avoid him at all costs, and now—

"Are you still there?"

There was some shuffling in the background, and then Damon muttered, "She's still there. She's probably in shock."

It was his voice that shook her out of her reverie. She hadn't spoken to him in two years. Hearing his voice coming out of her phone was the wake up call she needed to begrudgingly admit to herself that she wasn't having a bad dream, and this was—unfortunately—her reality.

"I'm still here," Katherine punctuated in a low voice, making the anger in her tone unmistakable. "And I would appreciate it if you got me off speaker phone, _Elena_. Haven't you done enough?"

"Kat, listen, I didn't mean to tell him," Elena sounded desperate, "He just figured it out!"

"Well no one around here has figured out there's anything different about _me_," Katherine shot back scathingly, "I guess I must've gotten all the brains in the family."

"Actually, Elena has done a pretty good job fooling everyone else," Damon said into the phone, his voice clearer this time. She guessed that he had taken the phone away from Elena, and had shut off the speaker for good measure. "Hello, Katherine," he added when she didn't immediately respond. "Miss me?"

"No," she replied coolly, composing herself. "In fact, I'm beginning to wish I'd never met you and had met your brother first, instead. Not that it matters, really. I'm getting to know Stefan now...though I'm sure sister dearest has already mentioned that to you."

Damon hesitated, as if deciding how much he should reveal to Katherine about what Elena had divulged to him. "Yeah," he answered vaguely, "She might've mentioned it."

Katherine snorted, "Of course she did. Girl couldn't keep a secret to save her life." Before he could protest, she barreled on viciously. "So, this whole time that I've been spilling my guts to Elena, she's just been turning around and repeating all of it to you? That's comforting, really, it is. Family, huh? Maybe I would've been better off having never—"

"Katherine, stop it," Damon warned, "You don't want to say something that you'll later regret."

She pursed her lips, but wisely chose not to finish her sentence. Instead, she changed tactics. "And to top it off, she even decided to set up my ex-boyfriend with my former best friend. How sweet."

"Best friend?" Damon scoffed, "Please. You treated Rebekah with barely concealed disdain. She was just too stupid to realize it."

"And what? Don't try to tell me that Elena actually likes Bex," Katherine sneered, "I've seen her real friends here in Mystic Falls. Elena would _never _willingly associate with someone as insipid and pathetic as Rebekah."

"Maybe not, but she's been more of a friend—and decent human being—to her than you ever were!" Damon snapped back harshly, and Katherine's eyes widened in shock.

"_What _did you just say to me?" she hissed, "Don't tell me she's already gotten you wrapped around her little finger, Damon. We all know how fast you fall for—"

Damon cut in, "That's enough, Kat."

"Can't handle the truth?"

"Apparently no more so than you can."

_Click. _

* * *

_[E]_

"D-did you just hang up on her?" Elena sputtered in horror as Damon tossed the cell phone onto the bed in disgust. "What were you thinking!?"

"I was thinking that she needed some time alone to deal," he responded evenly, though he wasn't entirely able to keep irritation from clouding his tone. "Let her stew with the news for a couple days. She'll be more calm and rational after she's had time to accept what's happened."

Elena gazed at him, a dozen emotions fighting for dominance within her. When she opened her mouth, it seemed like jealousy had won the battle. "I guess you know her pretty well. No wonder you're the only one who's been able to figure the two of us out."

He heaved a sigh, "Yes, I knew her for a long time, Elena. I know how she works, how she thinks. That doesn't mean anything."

"I was standing right here while you guys just had that argument," she pointed out, barely restraining herself from stomping her foot childishly. "I saw how you sounded with her...that fire, that intensity. I've never seen that side of you before."

"You've got to be kidding me," Damon stared at her incredulously. "I hope you HEARD what exactly I was saying amidst all this so-called 'fire and intensity' shit that you're spouting!"

"What are you—"

"I was defending _you, _Elena! You. Not her." Damon came forward and grasped her shoulders tightly, "I said I would help you, and I don't back out of my promises." He began to say something else, but then stopped himself. "You know I like _you_, right?"

She tried to smile, but avoided the question. "I'm sorry for freaking out over nothing. This whole thing with Katherine has been so stressful, and I just...I feel like she marked you as her property before we even got to know each other, and now..."

"Hey, look at me," Damon said roughly, forcing her chin upwards so that she could meet his gaze. "Katherine and I haven't been together in two years. And what we had, it wasn't real."

"I know," Elena nodded, her eyes skittering away from his, "Trust me, I hear what you're saying. It's just hard for me to believe that it really meant nothing to either of you."

He frowned and then suddenly asked her, "Do you remember our kiss this morning?" She glanced over to the bed at his words, feeling her face begin to warm just at the mere thought of how good it had felt to have Damon's body moving against hers, his hands sliding down her bare arms, the towel loosening between them...

"Hello? Earth to Elena," Damon's fingers appeared in front of her face as he waved to snap her out of her trance, "Well, judging by the blood rushing into your cheeks—a total turn on by the way—I'm going to guess that you do remember what that was like." He sounded amused, but his expression grew serious. "_That _was real, Elena. At least it was for me."

"Me too," she admitted quietly, reaching towards him for another kiss. "For me too."

...

"Well, look who's finally home," Anna appeared at her bedroom door about two minutes after she'd walked in. "Wow," she commented, looking over Elena's attire, "And wearing yesterday's dress, too." She winked, "Can I assume you had a fun night?"

"Fun?" Elena flopped down backwards onto her own bed, feeling as though all she had to do was close her eyes, and she'd fall asleep within seconds. "Well, it was definitely interesting."

"Your mother said that you spent the night at Damon's? Is everything alright?" Anna hovered over her, "Is your friend better now?"

"Rebekah? Yeah, we called her a cab earlier this morning. She slept off the hangover." It was on the tip of her tongue to mention that Rebekah had slept with Mason, but she kept her mouth shut. Katherine and Anna might've been close confidantes, but Elena wasn't going to betray Rebekah's trust—fake friend, or not.

Anna nodded and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "And how was the party? Did you run into Mason at all?"

"Unfortunately."

The maid looked surprised, "I thought you'd been looking forward to reacquainting with him. What happened?"

"The Lockwood brothers and Damon sort of got into a fight," Elena mumbled, "I bet the whole school is going to be talking about it on Monday."

"You mean the whole school is going to be talking about _you_," Anna corrected.

Elena groaned.

...

It was just as Anna had predicted, perhaps even worse. Stares and whispers followed Elena around all of Monday morning, until she couldn't take it anymore. The second the bell rang to signal her free period, she made a beeline for the library and rapidly skirted around armchairs and desks until she reached the spot in the back that she had found last week. The spot where she'd had her first real conversation with Damon.

Once she was alone, she breathed out a long sigh of relief. She knew Katherine probably would've thrived off the attention—hell, this would've been a dream come true. She was the talk of the school...her popularity ranking had likely even soared upwards another couple notches.

Elena hated it.

Not only was she not used to it, but she was beginning to realize that being popular wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It wasn't like she'd been _un_popular back in Mystic Falls, but she'd fallen somewhere in the midpoint region of the proverbial social ladder. The middle, she had decided, was a pretty good place to be. She'd had her group of friends and people knew who she was—but not enough to warrant unwanted attention.

She didn't know who had coined the phrase 'there's no such thing as bad press' but she now wholeheartedly disagreed with that statement. People weren't only talking about the fight, but also about how she was "leading on" both guys, how she had played them both, that she had _wanted _them to fight over her because of how supposedly insecure she was.

And maybe that had been Katherine's intention all along—in which case, she totally deserved what she got. It just wasn't fair that Elena was the one who had to deal with the repercussions of her sister's behavior. At least she had led a normal, drama-free life back in Mystic Falls...It wasn't like she'd thrown Katherine out to the wolves and let them eat her alive!

Someone suddenly pulled the right earbud from her headphones out of her ear, and she jumped. "Hey," Damon peered down at her questioningly, "I figured you might be back here. Hiding from the world, huh?"

Elena sighed, a smile tugging at her lips, "You could say that."

"Sorry about all this," he said sheepishly as he took a seat next to her. "I sort of feel like it's all my fault."

"That's ridiculous. How is it possibly your fault?"

"Well, if I hadn't punched Tyler then things might not have escalated to where they are now."

She shrugged moodily, "Don't worry. He deserved it."

"Oh, I know," Damon grinned, "And if I could do that whole night over, I _still _would've punched him." He leaned towards her, "Think of it this way...at least you did Katherine a favor. Now she won't have to deal with either of those douchebags anymore."

"Yup, that's me," she deadpanned, "Elena Gilbert: breaking bridges, one friendship at a time."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Damon reached over and enclosed her hand within his, "All of this will blow over, trust me. Tomorrow there'll be a new scandal for everyone to talk about." His mouth twisted bitterly, "Probably something involving my dad and the embezzlement charges."

She smiled, glancing down at their hands. "This whole star-crossed-lovers things really is an adrenaline rush. I can see why Katherine was so attracted to the idea."

Damon playfully narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you saying that you and Katherine are more—"

"I knew it!"

He broke off as Rebekah came around the corner, hitherto unnoticed by either of them. Elena gaped up at her, wondering how much she had heard. "Bex! What are you doing here? I thought you said that you'd never set foot into the library?"

Rebekah ignored her. "That night in the car—he _did _call you Elena. I knew I wasn't crazy. And now..." Her gaze darted in between the two of them, "Who _are _you? And where's Katherine?"


	12. Pandora's Box

**A/N: **at long last...an update! complete with answers to burning questions and D/E goodness ;) enjoy!

* * *

_[E]_

"Alright," Rebekah said crisply, sliding into the booth across from Damon and Elena. "You told me to keep quiet until after school so here we are." She paused to spare the fast food joint one look of disdain, "Wherever _here _is." She wrinkled her nose, "Katherine would never..." Then she trailed off, "Well, I guess that's why we're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, we all know Katherine would never set foot into a place like this," Damon waved his hand dismissively, "And neither would anyone from our school. See, that's kind of the point."

A waitress came over at that moment, placing a tall glass of water in front of Rebekah. She flashed her a friendly grin and pulled out a notepad from her apron, "What can I get you?"

Rebekah picked up her menu between two fingers and eyed it apprehensively. "Could I just have your list of salads? Thanks."

"Excuse me?"

"She'll have fries and a milkshake," Damon quickly interjected, pulling the menu out of Rebekah's hands. "Same as me and my girlfriend."

"Great," the waitress beamed, "What flavor?"

Damon pretended to study Rebekah before answering confidently, "Vanilla."

Rebekah shot him an annoyed look. "Actually, could you make that chocolate?"

"Three orders of chocolate milkshakes and fries coming right up." The waitress smiled and sauntered off to the next table, one filled with rowdy middle-schoolers.

"Wow, chocolate," Damon teased, "Taking a walk on the wild side, Bex?"

"Well, seeing as how I'll never come here again," Rebekah answered delicately, "I decided I might as well see what they have to offer." Then she leaned back in her seat and peered at both of them, "Get on with it, then."

"So," Elena cleared her throat, "I guess you know by now that I'm not Katherine."

"An understatement."

"I'm her sister."

"Identical twin."

"Yes," Elena agreed uncomfortably, "She's my twin."

"Alright," Rebekah said evenly, "And how long have you two known each other?"

"Just from this past summer. Our paths crossed in Boston."

"And where is Katherine now? Still there?"

"No," Elena took a deep breath, "She's in Mystic Falls."

Rebekah frowned, "Is that a real place?"

"It's in Virginia."

"And why would Katherine decide to go to some random town no one has ever heard of?"

Elena bristled, "That's my hometown."

"Oh, I see," Rebekah drawled, "You two pulled the ol' switch places, see how the other-half lives deal. I get it."

"You do?"

"Of course," she shrugged, "I've seen it in movies you know." She tilted her head thoughtfully, "Read about it, too. Never ends well."

Their conversation was interrupted then by the arrival of their food. Elena immediately dug in, letting out a moan of contentment. _Isobel would probably die of shock if she saw me now, _Elena thought spitefully, _judgy rich people. _

Damon was watching her with amusement. "Is Isobel not feeding you over at the Pierce residence? Because there was certainly a lot of food on the table the night that my dad and I came over for dinner."

"Very funny," Elena said around a mouthful of fries. She swallowed and then took a long gulp of her chocolate milkshake, closing her eyes blissfully. "Guys, this is heaven right here, in case you were wondering."

Rebekah crossed her arms, "What is that, like a thousand calories?" She leaned forward with genuine curiosity, "Is this what people in Mystic Falls eat?"

"This is what normal people eat," Elena corrected, "People who don't have gourmet meals catered for them every night by a full kitchen staff."

Damon grinned, popping a couple fries into his mouth. "Don't knock it till you've tried it, Bex."

She very tentatively took a sip of her milkshake, but didn't comment on it. Instead she re-focused her attention on Elena, "How did you guys come up with the plan to switch places?"

"It was Katherine's idea. She really wanted to meet my dad—I mean, _our _dad."

"And you just went along with it for the hell of it?" Rebekah asked shrewdly, "Didn't you want to meet your mom?"

"Of course I did," Elena answered, a little defensively. "I agreed to the plan, didn't I?"

"And what exactly did this plan entail? Switch places for a couple weeks? A month? Permanently?"

She immediately shook her head, "Short term basis only. It was only supposed to be a month at most."

Rebekah smirked, "You sound like you can't wait to get out of here, _Elena_."

"Living Katherine's life is harder than I thought it would be," she admitted, "And I miss my friends...having my own life, you know? Living someone else's life can get pretty tiring."

"I can only imagine," Rebekah responded dryly. "So, what was the point?"

"Point of what?"

Rebekah raised an eyebrow, "Switching, of course." She folded her arms on the table and smiled expectantly, "In the books and movies there's always a point."

"Um," Elena sucked in the last of her milkshake, the straw rattling as it hit the bottom of the glass. She wiped her mouth and then folded the napkin, no longer making eye contact. "Getting our parents back together, of course."

There was a moment of silence.

Then: "Wow, you are a really bad liar."

Elena looked up in alarm, "What?"

Rebekah ignored her and looked over at Damon accusingly, "You're being awfully quiet."

"Don't look at me," he snapped, "It's not like she told me the whole story either."

Elena stilled, surprised at his tone. _What had happened? He'd been in a good mood when they'd first arrived..._

"You don't know?" Rebekah was saying skeptically, "Please. You just told the waitress she was your girlfriend, for heaven's sake."

"Yeah," he abruptly stood up and reached into his pocket for his wallet, throwing some bills onto the table. "Apparently that was my mistake."

Elena gaped up at him, "What's your problem?"

"Forget it," he sneered, "It's not like you'll be sticking around long enough to figure it out anyway." With that he stormed out of the restaurant, leaving both girls staring after him in shock.

"Should I...should I go after him?"

"I'd give him time to cool off," Rebekah reached over to snag one of Damon's remaining fries. "Especially since you're the one who screwed up."

"Me? What are you talking about!? I didn't—"

"Didn't you see his face when you said you wanted to get the hell out of here ASAP?" Rebekah shrugged, crossing her arms. "Because he looked pretty pissed when you said that."

"But..." Elena floundered, at a loss for words. "But what did he expect? Of course I have to go back home! This isn't _my _life...It's Katherine's, and she's going to want it back. Not to mention that it's senior year! I have to apply to colleges, go to graduation, and...and I'm on the yearbook committee!"

"And I'm sure he understands that," Rebekah replied calmly, "But you sort of made it sound like you couldn't wait to get out of here...Like there was nothing here that was making your time worthwhile."

"That's not what I—"

"It's probably not what you _meant. _Or maybe it is, I don't know. I'm just letting you know what it sounded like."

Elena covered her face with her hands, "I'm a horrible person."

Rebekah didn't respond, suddenly appearing to be very interested in examining her nails. After a second, however, she heaved a sigh. "False pretenses aside, you've actually been a pretty good friend to me." She pulled her hair into a ponytail, busying herself so that she wouldn't have to meet Elena's gaze. "I'm not stupid, you know. I know that Katherine was never truly my friend. She probably just kept me around because she loved the fact that I'd follow her around, worshipping the ground she walked on."

Elena frowned.

"I know what you must think of me," Rebekah continued, almost sounding like she was talking to herself at this point. "Shallow, pathetic...always running after the first guy who pays attention to me, even if I know it's not real."

"No, that's not what—"

"But you were nice to me," she finally looked at Elena, "And you helped me, and you were everything a good friend should be." She took a deep breath, "I guess the point of me telling you all this is to say that you're not a horrible person. And I'll keep your secret, of course...Granted that you spill a few more details." She leaned forward eagerly, "How did you pull it off? Knowing who everyone was?"

Elena flashed her a grateful look, mouthing a 'thank-you' in her direction before focusing on the question. "Well, Katherine and I got to know each other pretty extensively for two months. With facebook and our phones, we had a lot of pictures of everyone in our lives." She paused, chuckling at the memory, "And at the airport, Katherine even gave me this huge binder that she'd put together of pictures and descriptions of everyone in her life."

"Wow," Rebekah sounded impressed, "That easy, huh?"

"Not at all," Elena smiled ruefully, "For example, she totally skipped the page—or should I say chapter—on the Salvatore brothers."

"Brothers? Oh, but she never met Stefan...None of us did."

"I know," she hesitated, deciding how much to tell her new friend. "Stefan is actually in Mystic Falls now."

Rebekah looked so stunned that her expression almost looked comical. "But why does everyone keep going to this town THAT I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF!?"

Elena shrugged. The same question had been plaguing her thoughts ever since Katherine had told her the news. "I have no idea what he's doing there. Apparently he's staying with his Uncle Zach. He even enrolled at my—well, at the local high school. He and Katherine are in a bunch of classes together."

"Because that's not suspicious at all."

"She didn't know he was going to be there, if that's what you're implying."

"I'm not implying anything at all," Rebekah pursed her lips, "It's just a strange coincidence, that's all." She eyed Elena, "And you even pulled off fooling your parents?"

"John—my dad—basically lives at work. I knew that he wouldn't know the difference if someone replaced me." She recognized the bitterness in her tone, but luckily Rebekah didn't comment on it. "And Katherine said the same about her mom—always being at work, I mean."

"So it was everyone else who was the problem."

"Damon, specifically," Elena bit her lip, "You, too, sometimes. And Anna—Kat's maid—seemed to know her pretty well too." She breathed out a gust of air, leaning her head back against the booth. "It's been hard keeping all the lies straight in my head. You get why I said I couldn't wait to get back to my own life, right?"

"Hey, it's not me who has the problem with what you said," Rebekah protested, raising both of her hands defensively. "I suggest you memorize that little speech for when you go apologize to Damon, though."

"I thought Damon understood," Elena muttered, "He's the one that offered to cover for me when he figured out the truth. He knew I was drowning in the mess that Katherine left me in!"

"He might understand," Rebekah said gently, "But love makes us say and do irrational things."

Elena flushed, "Oh, no it's not—"

"I've known Damon for a long time," Rebekah cut in softly, "And I can tell."

…

Damon grumbled to himself as he hurried down the stairs and swung open the front door without looking to see who was behind it. Then he groaned when he found himself staring into Elena's beseeching doe eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Peace offering," she said, holding out a teddy bear.

He looked down at it in bewilderment. "You got me a teddy bear?" he echoed, "What am I, five?"

"It's wearing a football jersey, see?"

"Yes," he deadpanned, "I see."

"Because you said you used to play football," Elena explained, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably. When he didn't break the silence, she huffed, "You know, it's rude not to accept a gift."

Damon begrudgingly reached out and grasped the teddy bear from her outstretched hand, looking at it suspiciously. "There's not, like, a hidden camera in here is there?"

"What?"

"Because if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask."

Elena stared at him blankly.

"Geez, you look like a deer caught in headlights," he rolled his eyes, "It was a joke, Elena. Relax."

She swallowed, faintly embarrassed. "You know, it's also rude to keep someone standing on your doorstep. Especially if they've come bearing gifts."

"Gifts?" Damon waved the teddy bear at her, "I only see one."

Elena sighed, "The rest of your gift isn't tangible."

"Non-tangible gifts?" He crossed his arms, "I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, what's the point of getting a gift if you can't play with it? Isn't that right, Teddy?"

She scowled at him, "That's a dumb name."

"Hey, you gave up naming privileges once you handed him over, Gilbert." He hadn't meant to say it, but once it was out there, he couldn't take it back. The air between them grew thick with tension as they both remembered the last time he'd called her by her last name. Elena's lips parted unconsciously, her breathing growing uneven as she recalled the sensation of his lips against hers, moving down her throat, his hands against her skin...

"Screw it," Damon muttered under his breath, suddenly reaching out to grab her wrist and hauling her across the threshold. Elena let out a startled gasp as her body hit his chest, her curves molding against him instantly. Then her back was pressed up against the door, and Damon was kissing her fiercely. She could feel his frustration with her in the way that he held her, his fingers pressing into her skin, his tongue delving into her mouth, dueling for dominance.

"Damon," she breathed, her head falling back as his lips moved down to attack her neck. His hands were everywhere at once as if he couldn't get enough of her and she instinctively lifted her leg around his waist, feeling his arousal press against her core. Heat flared between them as Damon pulled back to meet her gaze and she had the sense of mind to nod once. Then his mouth covered hers again, his fingers fumbling with the buttons on her collared shirt. "Is the whole school girl thing a turn on?" Elena murmured against his lips, arching her back when he finally succeeded in opening the shirt, his thumbs grazing her breasts and causing sparks to shoot through every nerve ending in her body.

"Forget the uniform," Damon said roughly, undoing his own tie and tossing it to the floor. "It's you," he mumbled hoarsely, groaning as Elena pressed herself into his chest before wrapping her legs around his waist. He staggered down the hallway and into a guest bedroom she hadn't noticed before. "You're the turn on," he grunted as he fell backwards onto the bed, and she lifted herself so she was straddling him. The world seemed to stand still as they gazed at each other, both breathing hard.

Then Damon was flipping her over, his hand tangling in her hair and his mouth devouring every inch of her body as she writhed beneath him, desperate for release. With trembling fingers she reached out for the zipper on his pants, undoing the clasp and waiting impatiently as he wriggled out of them and tossed them to the floor. "Now," she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed as he settled himself between her legs. And then he was inside her, filling her inch by inch until her mouth dropped open in pleasure, fireworks dancing across her eyelids.

…

"You awake?"

"Hmm?" Elena murmured sleepily as Damon stroked her bare shoulder, "Yeah, are you?"

He chuckled, his breath tickling the side of her ear. "Yeah, I'm awake." His finger traced a pattern down her shoulder and across the front of her throat, dipping teasingly down her chest and between her breasts for a moment before his hand moved back up to play with her hair. "That was incredible."

"Believe it or not, that's not the _non-tangible _gift I was talking about when I dropped by." Elena turned around on the bed so that she was facing him and she sucked in a startled breath when she saw how close he was; close enough that she could see every flawless detail on his face—from the long eyelashes to the ocean depths in his eyes.

"Elena?"

"Huh?"

He treated her to a slow grin, and she—unbelievably—felt herself getting aroused again. "You were saying something," he prompted, "It sounded like it was going to be important."

"Oh yeah," she blinked, shaking her head slightly to clear it. "Yeah, so, I came here to..." She took a deep breath and exhaled, "To tell you the truth."

Damon's hand stilled in her hair, and she could see his shoulders tense. "Okay," he said carefully, "But this isn't going to change anything, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

He gave a nervous laugh, "I mean, you're not going to tell me that you and Katherine switched places because of something to do with me, or my family, or the embezzlement case, are you?"

"No," Elena refuted quickly, "That's not why I was keeping it a secret. It doesn't have anything to do with your family." Then she hesitated, "Well, not really."

Damon pulled his hand away, and her smile faltered, feeling the loss of his touch. "The suspense is killing me, Elena."

"Okay," she took another deep breath. "Everything I told you and Rebekah is the truth. The fact that me and Kat didn't know each other, that we only met this past summer in Boston, that we decided to switch places to get to know each other's parents. That's all true."

"But there's more," he stated.

Elena nodded, pulling the bedsheet up to her shoulders against the sudden chill in the room. "Kat and I spent a lot of time talking in those two months. Wondering what had happened to cause our parents to get divorced, to separate us at birth, to never even speak of each other again."

Damon had raised himself up on one elbow by this point, his expression serious as he watched her closely. "That's understandable."

"We both knew that our parents had been working on a case 18 years ago—and before you say anything, _no_—the Salvatore name never came up when we were discussing this over the summer. We just knew, from our respective parents, that there had been a big case."

His eyes had narrowed, "I'm listening."

"We decided that it must've been something about that case that tore them apart; like an argument or disagreement." Elena sighed, turning onto her back so that she could stare up at the ceiling instead of at Damon. She didn't want to see his expression when she told him the next part. "Apparently when Kat was growing up, Isobel would tell her some stories about her past. About how she got to be this huge lawyer. The ladder that she had to climb." Elena paused, "And Isobel used to talk about a man named John—a cop—without ever saying his last name or making any allusions to the fact that he had been her husband, of course."

"And what did she say about John?"

She swallowed. Here came the hard part. "That he was corrupt," Elena finally admitted, "That he would take bribes, hide evidence, make sure that certain cases had a certain outcome."

Damon sat up suddenly, and Elena twisted around to look at him. He met her gaze with wide eyes. "You're kidding," he breathed, "Your dad? But...but you never said anything...I thought you said you guys got along."

"We barely see each other, actually. But then of course there's Liz Forbes—she's my friend's mother—who works down at the station, too. And she always says that my dad is never in the office even when he says he's working late." Elena shrugged, "God knows where he goes."

"Isobel said all this about John?"

"And when Kat heard my dad's name, she put all the pieces together."

Damon crossed his arms, his brow furrowing. "Why did she go to Mystic Falls?"

"To look for evidence to prove his corruption," Elena whispered, "She said that she knew more about him, from all those times Isobel spoke about him and about some of the cases he's thrown. And since I knew nothing about it, Kat decided that she would go down there and figure it out."

"Right," Damon scoffed, "And you believe her?"

Elena frowned, "What do you mean? That's the whole story—"

"That's the whole story that _you _know," he corrected, anger creating an edge in his tone. "Katherine sure as hell knew that the big case from 18 years ago was the Giuseppe Salvatore case, even if she never told you the name. What is she trying to prove—that your dad helped clear my dad's name 18 years ago even though he didn't deserve it? Did _Isobel _send her down there to do her dirty work? Is the whole Pierce family in on this plan that you supposedly knew nothing about!?"

"You're being paranoid!" Elena exclaimed, "Of course Isobel has nothing to do with this!"

"But you admit that Katherine might've known more than she told you?" Damon pressed, "It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Well it would explain why she was so hesitant to tell me anything about the Salvatores," Elena said uneasily, "And why she wanted me to stay away from you. But..."

"But I guess she didn't plan on Stefan ending up in Mystic Falls, too."

* * *

_[K]_

After having the weekend to cool off, Katherine had reigned in her temper. Well, mostly. She hadn't heard from either Damon or Elena since the fateful phone call Saturday morning, and she was beginning to get concerned about exactly how much her dear twin had spilled to Damon.

"Hey!" Bonnie grinned, sliding into the seat next to her. "So last Friday's date night was fun, we should make it a weekly thing."

"Hmm? Oh yeah, date night," Kat nodded quickly, "That would be fun."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her, "Everything alright, Elena? You've seemed pretty out of it all day." She suddenly paused, her eyes growing worried. "John wasn't too angry with you for staying out so late on Friday, was he?"

"My dad? Yeah, he was pretty pissed," Katherine said, latching onto the excuse with relief. Not only did it have the benefit of being true, but it was the perfect excuse. "He was actually waiting up for me when I got home."

"Damn," Bonnie said sympathetically, "Did he ground you?"

"Not in so many words," she rolled her eyes, "He's currently not speaking to me, though."

"Well, that can't be too different from how it's usually like at your house, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Bonnie shrugged, "Nothing, I guess. I just meant that you always say your dad's never home anyway, so it's not like you guys ever talk that much."

"Oh that," Katherine said moodily, "Yeah, you're right. It doesn't make much difference, I suppose."

With that, they lapsed into silence, waiting for the rest of the yearbook committee to arrive. Bonnie looked at her cell phone for the umpteenth time, fidgeting impatiently. "This isn't like Caroline," she complained, "To be late to the first meeting of the year. Especially since she's in charge of the committee!"

Katherine nodded her agreement, also swiveling her head around to peer at the door like everyone else was doing. "I wonder where she is...you don't think she forgot, do you?"

"Caroline?" Bonnie scoffed, "Forget a yearbook meeting? Yeah, that'll be the day." Then her expression morphed into one of confusion, "What on earth is Matt doing here?"

Matt had just appeared at the doorway, looking out of breath. "Hey guys," he said, awkwardly shuffling into the room and taking a stance in the front. "So, Caroline wanted me to tell everyone that she got called into work...so she'd appreciate it if you guys could just meet here tomorrow at the same time?" Grumbling filled the room, and Katherine and Bonnie exchanged glances. "Great," Matt said weakly, waving as everyone slowly exited the room. "She really appreciates it."

"She could've just called us," Bonnie said accusingly to Matt, "What's going on?"

He shrugged, holding up his hands. "Don't ask me. I think she didn't have time to text anyone. Last I saw, she was running off in the direction of The Grill. I just happened to be with her when she remembered there was supposed to be a meeting today."

"Whatever," Bonnie muttered, heading out the door. "So glad my afternoon just opened wide up. Now my parents are going to be on my case about college applications." She heaved a disgruntled sigh, waving bye to Katherine and Matt.

"I should get home, too," Katherine said, heaving her Calculus textbook up from the table, "I can't believe we already have an exam next week. It feels like school just started."

"Senior year, huh?" He laughed as he followed her out the door, "They try to kill you before graduation hits."

"Apparently," she agreed, slowing down as they passed her locker. "By the way, did Stefan ever try out for the football team? He told me he was interested in it."

"Tryouts are going on right now, actually," Matt gestured in the direction of the field, "Maybe he's there." He began jogging backwards, "Catch ya later, Elena."

Katherine waved, and then gathered the rest of her homework from her locker before heading home. As she shifted her bookbag on her shoulder, she briefly considered taking the bus but then she shuddered. _Maybe I should buy a car for Elena...it'll be a nice gift for her to come back home to. _She smiled to herself as she turned the corner onto her street, her gaze lingering critically on the garden in front of Elena's house. _And maybe I'll buy her some new plants, and get someone to fix that garden. She'll like that. _

She let herself into the house and began to climb the stairs to her room when she happened to hear a creak from the dining room. Katherine froze, dropping her bag onto the ground silently. There was no way in hell her father was home this early. She tiptoed into the living room, snagging a pocket knife that was lying on the coffee table. She'd never seen the use of John leaving random odds and ends around the house, but now she was grateful.

Katherine edged along the wall, moving closer to the dining room and her mouth grew dry when a shadow moved from the corner of her eye. _This is stupid, _she berated herself, _I should call the cops. _She hastily patted her pockets for her phone, but then stifled a groan when she remembered that she had thrown it into her bag as she'd walked home.

The shadow moved, seeming to come closer.

Katherine gritted her teeth, steeling herself before she leapt around the corner, the pocket knife held out in her hand as a clear weapon. But she came to a halt when she saw who it was, her mouth dropping open and darting between the intruder and the papers he was holding in his hand. "Stefan?"


End file.
